Space & Astronomy

Astronaut details near-drowning experience

By T.K. Randall
August 21, 2013 ·  12 comments

Image Credit: NASA The claustrophobic feeling of being confined within a spacesuit may seem unnerving enough, but to then have the helmet start filling up with water is more akin to a science fiction horror movie. In a recent spacewalk Luca Parmitano found himself in exactly this predicament, with water sloshing around inside his helmet he was unable to even see properly as he desperately attempted to save himself from disaster.

"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," he wrote. "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."

Fortunately the Italian astronaut was able to get back inside the space station using his safety cable to pull him back towards the hatch. NASA has been unable to find the exact cause of the problem but believes it relates to the spacesuit's life-support equipment backpack.[!gad]The claustrophobic feeling of being confined within a spacesuit may seem unnerving enough, but to then have the helmet start filling up with water is more akin to a science fiction horror movie. In a recent spacewalk Luca Parmitano found himself in exactly this predicament, with water sloshing around inside his helmet he was unable to even see properly as he desperately attempted to save himself from disaster.

"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," he wrote. "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."

Fortunately the Italian astronaut was able to get back inside the space station using his safety cable to pull him back towards the hatch. NASA has been unable to find the exact cause of the problem but believes it relates to the spacesuit's life-support equipment backpack.

Source: Brisbane Times | Comments (12)

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