Factual error: When Sandra Bullock and George Clooney manage to get to the ISS, she gets entangled with some ropes and manages to grab Clooney's safety rope. Clooney's speed should be very close to Bullocks' and the ISS', hence. The parachute ropes should be able to withhold the forces of deceleration (the mass of two people is very small, compared to Soyus or ISS), so no more pulling or having to sacrifice himself... This is due to the fact that there's no drag in space to constantly change Clooney's velocity (revert to Newton's First Law).
Gravity (2013)
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Directed by: Alfonso Cuaron
Starring: George Clooney, Ed Harris, Sandra Bullock, Basher Savage, Eric Michels, Orto Ignatiussen
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Suggested correction: The parachute ropes are of course strong enough to hold the relatively low kinetic energy of the drifting astronauts, but that is not the reason why Clooney detaches. The rope is not attached firmly to Bullocks' leg. There are some loops loosely wrapped around her leg, and while both astronauts are still drifting away from the ISS (seen in a shot a few seconds earlier), those loops slip away from the foot one by one. Before the last loop slips away from the foot, untethering and condemning both astronauts, Clooney detaches himself to lessen the kinetec energy that pulls on the rope by reducing the total mass of the "system of two astronauts", so that there is a better chance that the last loop will remain attached to Bullock.
Once Clooney had stop moving all that would have been need was a slight pull from Bullock to pull him towards her. The momentum was lost when he stopped moving. So no need to cut himself loose.
It all happens in free fall. As soon as the cord withstood inertia resulting from George's body mass pulling on it, George would bounce back towards Sandra. The entire scene was completely unrealistic.
Clooney stopped moving in relation to Bullock. But both were still moving in relation to the ISS (look at the scene again; there is a wide shot that establishes this), with both their masses pulling on the parachute cords, straining the tenuous connection of the cords looped around Bullock's foot. To lessen the strain, Clooney detaches itself from the two-astronaut-system, reducing the mass and kinetic energy pulling on the cords.
Clooney and Bullock - when they were connected to each other - never actually stopped moving in relation to the ISS.
Actually parachute cords can withstand hundreds of pounds of force, making them very difficult to snap.
The danger wasn't the ropes snapping, the danger was that they would slip off her foot, and they would both be lost to space.
Matt Kowalski: You have to learn to let go.
Question: Any idea what chemical substance is used in the fire extinguisher? I initially assumed it couldn't be straightforward liquid H2O as I couldn't see any spherical droplets floating around, but could it be an aerosol?
Answer: A quick internet search revealed that the International Space Station uses both carbon dioxide and water-based foam extinguishers. The Space Shuttle used Halon 1301 fire extinguishers, but these were fixed nozzles built into the shuttle compartments.
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