NASA astronaut Luca Parmitano almost drowned when water leaked into his helmet during a spacewalk
An astronaut has recalled the horrifying moment he nearly drowned in space when water leaked into his helmet during a spacewalk.
The idea of there being water in space sounds a bit odd, but when you look at NASA astronaut Luca Parmitano’s spacewalk in July 2013, it’ll make a bit more sense.
Parmitano and his fellow spacewalker, Chris Cassidy, were conducting the six-hour mission when they suddenly noticed something strange.
Watch below:
Just an hour into the mission, which was supposed to involve routine maintenance outside the International Space Station (ISS), Parmitano noticed water accumulating inside his helmet.
He initially thought it was a water leak from his drinking bag, however, the volume of water was increasing.
Having warned NASA three times, the astronaut was struggling to see, hear or communicate properly.
“I feel a lot of water on the back of my head, but I don’t think it is from my bag,” he recalled.
“The leak is not from the water bag and it is increasing.
“I’m thinking that it might not be the water bag.”
Parmitano was seriously at risk of drowning in space.
NASA astronaut Luca Parmitano almost drowned when water leaked into his helmet during a spacewalk in 2013 (DMITRY LOVETSKY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Mission Control had no choice but to abort the spacewalk and Parmitano managed to make his way back to the ISS airlock.
If it wasn’t for his calm response during the emergency, there could have been a more serious outcome.
Following the incident, NASA identified that there were technical issues in the spacesuit’s design, which were first noticed during a spacewalk a week prior.
In a blog post published on the ESA (European Space Agency) website, Parmitano opened up about the moment, writing: “The unexpected sensation of water at the back of my neck surprises me – and I’m in a place where I’d rather not be surprised.
“On the ground, Shane confirms they have received my message and he asks me to await instructions.
“Chris, who has just finished, is still nearby and he moves towards me to see if he can see anything and identify the source of the water in my helmet.
He lived to tell the tale (SERGEI ILNITSKY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“But I think the liquid is too cold to be sweat, and more importantly, I can feel it increasing.
“My ability to see – already compromised by the water – completely vanishes, making my eyes useless.
“But worse than that, the water covers my nose – a really awful sensation that I make worse by my vain attempts to move the water by shaking my head.
“By now, the upper part of the helmet is full of water and I can’t even be sure that the next time I breathe I will fill my lungs with air and not liquid.
“Now that we are repressurizing, I know that if the water does overwhelm me I can always open the helmet. I’ll probably lose consciousness, but in any case that would be better than drowning inside the helmet.”
He also warned: “We are explorers, not colonizers. The skills of our engineers and the technology surrounding us make things appear simple when they are not, and perhaps we forget this sometimes. Better not to forget.”
Featured Image Credit: NASA/Photo by NASA via Getty Images
