Factual error: During the opening shot of the shuttle Atlantis in the satellite repair scenes, its cargo bay doors are closed. Standard procedure for orbiting shuttles was to keep its cargo doors open, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that the airlock is located within the cargo bay. The astronaut isn't tethered but using an MMU, but still would have to enter and exit through the cargo bay airlock, meaning if the doors where closed, if there were an emergency he'd have to wait for someone to open them before he could get back in.
Vader47000
15th May 2020