The Soyuz Capsule is entangled in the parachute cables.
The ISS Parachute was accidentally deployed during the first debris strike of the International Space Station.
Role in Gravity
As Lieutenant Matt Kowalski and Dr. Ryan Stone are floating around Earth's orbit, the ISS pulls into view but there are clear signs of structural damage from the debris strike. The pair notices that one of the Soyuz re-entry modules of the ISS is gone – the crew have abandoned the station. The other Soyuz has been damaged in the debris strike, resulting in a parachute having been deployed and currently entangled around the station. Matt tells her that while it can’t bring them back to Earth, they can use it to get to a nearby Chinese space station, the Tiangong-1. Kowalski then then checks his propulsion pack: there are only two bursts left if they are lucky. At this time, Ryan's tank runs out of oxygen but she has a small amount in her suit.
As their oxygen supplies begin to bottom out, Matt fires the remaining bursts towards the ISS. As the two blast forward, they strike the ISS and roll forward – tumbling away from one another. Ryan successfully catches on to part of the ISS’s paneling but Matt isn’t so lucky, bouncing off the paneling and out to space. Their connection tether snaps, ripping Ryan free of the ISS and dragging her out into space. As they are pulled out into space, Ryan’s leg catches on the parachute cords of the Soyuz module – keeping her attached to the ISS. But Matt sees the connection is tenuous at best – his momentum from continuous deceleration is going to pull her free and they will both die. Ryan realizes that Matt is going to detach his suit from the connection tether and begs him not to but Matt tells her she has to get back to the planet. He disconnects the tether and floats off.
Ryan barely makes it inside the station and gets to the Soyuz capsule after narrowly escaping a fire. Ryan glances at her watch and realizes that she has a mere seven minutes to escape the ISS before the debris completes another orbit and wipes the remainder of the station out. She fires the thrusters and the capsule lurches free – away from the ISS before jerking to a stop suddenly. The parachute cables keep the Soyuz anchored to the ISS. The very thing that saved her life is now preventing her escape. She quickly dresses into a spare spacesuit and goes outside the Zvezda Module and begins releasing the parachute cables from the capsule as the debris strike arrives, blasting the ISS – deflected narrowly away from Ryan’s Soyuz. As the ISS is destroyed, Ryan scrambles back into the Soyuz and fires it away from the debris, remarking: "I hate space".