Originally Posted by
B Fraser
Quite possibly although his photo op requiring him to open the door for them is a bit daft.
One of the "passengers" on a Shuttle flight noticed that the door could be easily opened whilst in orbit i.e. there was no locking mechanism that had to be overcome. The commander commented that it could, but nobody would be that stupid. The "passenger" was kept an eye on for the duration of the flight.
….and the provision of a padlock just in case somebody decided to give the handle a try. .It’s an aspect of the Shuttle program that wasn’t widely publicized at the time but has been mentioned a few times in some of the oral histories…
CollectSpace - Discussion on padlock.