Astronaut recalls his drowning nightmare
Spacewalking Italian tells of terrifying moment helmet started filling with water and how he thought of opening safety valve as 'last resort'
The Italian astronaut who nearly drowned in his helmet during a spacewalk has revealed how he frantically tried to come up with a plan to save himself.
Luca Parmitano wrote in his online blog that he could not see as the water sloshed around in his helmet outside the International Space Station last month.
"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," the former test pilot wrote.
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."
Parmitano, 36, a major in the Italian Air Force making just his second spacewalk, was not sure which direction to head to reach the station's hatch.
He tried to contact his spacewalking partner, American Christopher Cassidy, and also Mission Control. But their voices grew faint and no one could hear him. "I'm alone. I frantically think of a plan. It's vital that I get inside as quickly as possible," he wrote.
Parmitano realised Cassidy - making his way back to the air lock by a different route - could come and get him. "But how much time do I have? It's impossible to know," he said.
That's when Parmitano remembered his safety cable. He used the cable recoil mechanism, and its 1.5kg of force, to "pull" him back to the hatch.