Continuity mistake: After the rope keeping Ryan and Matt tethered together is snapped, Ryan continues drifting downwards towards the Earth. The shot continues panning until the camera stops with the camera high up. As she falls, the ropes from the parachute around the satellite are on Ryan's right. In the next shot from low down, the ropes from the parachute have moved to Ryan's left. She was only shown spiralling downwards throughout the shot, so her position next to the ropes would not have been affected. (00:30:25)
Answer: If they had been tightly tethered to the space station, he would have bounced back toward her. But her foot was only tangled in parachute cords, so that when the tether snapped taught all it did was begin to pull her away from the station as the parachute cords gave more and more slack, slipping more and more loose as they drifted further away.
Phixius ★