Of all the ways you can think of dying, drowning is probably the least thing that comes to mind when it comes to dying in space. Drowning in space? It’s possible?
This fatal accident almost occurred in July 2013, when astronaut Luca Parmitano faced such a dramatic scenario while conducting a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS). Parmitano was conducting an Extravehicular Activity (EVA) planned to last six hours, when he noticed water collecting inside his helmet. For a full 23 minutes, he remained outside the ISS as the liquid continued to accumulate and move inside his hull. By the time he got into the station, the water had reached his eyes, nose, and mouth.
“As I move back up my route to the airlock, I feel more and more certain that the water is rising,” Parmitano wrote of the experience on his European Space Agency blog. “I feel it cover the sponge of my headphones and I wonder if I will lose audio contact. The water has also almost completely covered the front of my visor, sticking to it and obscuring my vision,” says Parmitano, recalling this dramatic episode.
He realized that to return he would have to turn over and turn face down, if he did not want to die by drowning.
Unable to see, he became disoriented and did not know if he would know how to return to the safety of the airlock. His vision was so compromised that he couldn’t even see the handles on the outside of the space station that are used to move the EVAs. Nor did he listen to the radio. He felt his way along the cable to the airlock, wanting to get out of it.
And luckily, he managed to get back to the airlock, where he waited with his eyes closed. He had not heard any instructions from NASA. Suddenly, he felt Chris Cassidy enter the airlock and close the door.
He felt Cassidy clenching his glove to reassure him. He was finally able to remove his helmet. I was safe.
Investigations into the incident revealed that contamination had clogged the filters in his suit, causing fluid to build up.
