Astronaut's Story of Near-Drowning Is Disturbing Reminder That Space Is Terrifying

[freshwest]

What started off as a fairly routine spacewalk for the International Space Station last month quickly turned into something much scarier when water started leaking into an astronaut's helmet. Now, for the first time, we're hearing about the drowning scare in the astronaut's own words.

Flight engineer Luca Parmitano (right) was working to repair some cables on the ISS's exterior during a spacewalk with American astronaut Chris Cassidy on July 16 when he started to feel condensation pool in the rear of his helmet. My head is really wet and I have a feeling it's increasing," Parmitano told Johnson Space Center in Houston about an hour into the mission. Last night, on his personal blog, Parmitano explained that he was in one of the most difficult positions outside the space station -- "I’m literally wedged between three different modules, with my visor and my PLSS (my ‘backpack’) just a few centimetres from the external walls of Node 3, Node 1 and the Lab" -- when the unthinkable started to happen: The sensation of water pooling around the back of his neck Eventually, the liquid started interrupting the Italian astronaut's ability to see, speak and hear...

Houston did, in fact, decide to terminate the mission early: Parmitano and Cassidy were scheduled to perform maintenance for six or seven hours -- the mission lasted one hour, 32 minutes in the end. What follows is one of the most terrifying, unimaginable passages you may have ever read. Imagine being in a spacesuit, a fishbowl helmet literally keeping you alive and filling with water, losing your ability to see or communicate or breathe, and having to perform a series of space gymnastics with your life on the line. A warning: You may need a paper bag handy to make it through this:

"As I move back along my route towards the airlock, I become more and more certain that the water is increasing. I feel it covering the sponge on my earphones and I wonder whether I’ll lose audio contact. The water has also almost completely covered the front of my visor, sticking to it and obscuring my vision. I realise that to get over one of the antennae on my route I will have to move my body into a vertical position, also in order for my safety cable to rewind normally. At that moment, as I turn ‘upside-down’, two things happen: the Sun sets, and 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. To make matters worse, I realise that I can’t even understand which direction I should head in to get back to the airlock. I can’t see more than a few centimetres in front of me, not even enough to make out the handles we use to move around the Station..."

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2013/08/astronauts-story-near-drowning-disturbing-reminder-space-terrifying/68571/

Water Leak in Astronaut Helmet Cuts Spacewalk

Published on Jul 16, 2013

VIDEO description:

NASA aborted a spacewalk at the International Space Station on Tuesday because of a dangerous water leak in an astronaut's helmet that drenched his eyes, nose and mouth. (July 16)

More at the Atlantic link. Apologize if it's been posted before but can't find it through search. This happened some weeks ago.

It reminds me of the 1979 movie Alien with its 'In Space No One Can Hear You Scream' meme. That flick scared the bejesus outta me. Except in this real life event, he was saved by a professional team effort. Good work, Houston and astronauts.

[blackspade]

1. That's terrifying.

[skydive forever]

2. Worst part is

in space no one could hear him scream. Just kidding, obviously. I worked on the Shuttle program for 25 years, met a whole lot of astronauts, and to a person they were all cool as hell. Except maybe the diaper wearing one.

[freshwest]

5. I had a cousin that worked at NASA when the first moon landing was done. I hesitate to talk about it

since they were pulling our leg, it was all fake, filmed in Hollywood, or so I'm told in recent days. At times it's best to say nothing. Sigh...

As you said, the people who work in this field are cool folks. Except for that lady who drove cross country in an adult diaper. Shades of Ted Nugent. No, wait, he didn't use one. OMG.

But that trip is what I call showingsome real determination. Or a huge obsession. Or something like that. Did she lose her job over all of that, was she on drugs or something?

Glad to hear you got to work in the company of such people, it must have been exciting to go to work everyday.

[skydive forever]

6. Yeah, she lost her astronaut status

and faced some legal issues. I had 25 years of the best job ever, built the SRB's and attached the ET and attached the forward end of the orbiter for most of those years as a technician. Hell of an honor.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

3. We already have super absorbant technology that could help...

Just make a cap out of maxipads.

[Downwinder]

4. Water boarded.