Spacewalk Aborted When Water Fills Astronaut's Helmet

astroengine writes "A planned six-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station came to a dramatic and abrupt end on Tuesday when water started building up inside the helmet of Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano. Parmitano and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy were less than an hour into their spacewalk, their second in a week, when Parmitano reported that his head felt wet. 'My head is really wet and I have a feeling it's increasing,' Parmitano reported to ground control teams at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Parmitano returned safely to the space station interior, but the cause of the leak was not immediately known."

Comments

Close call

[dadelbunts]

Would have sucked to be the first person to drown in outer space.

Re:Close call

[plover]

Parmitano: "Hey, I gotta leak in my helmet!"
Cassidy: "Go ahead. It's your helmet."

Thanks Obama

[Ceriel Nosforit]

What will the government do to stop these leaks?!

I suspect DHMO contamination

[philip.paradis]

I've been trying to warn the public about the inherent dangers of DHMO for years, but my cries have fallen on deaf ears. Perhaps someone at NASA will listen now.

What does it smell like in a space suit?

[stevegee58]

Depends.

Cooling system leak

[bruce_the_loon]

Sounds like it was a leak in the inner-jacket cooling system that circulates water around the astronaut's body. Can't be a fun experience though,

Re:I guess those Space Nutters were right

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

I'm not a rocket surgeon; but I'd guess a failure somewhere in the PLLS. That component is supposed to condense and remove water vapor from the gas(as well as scrubbing CO2 and adding oxygen if needed) before reintroducing the fresh atmosphere into the astronaut's helmet.

Between a possible failure in the mechanism for removing condensation(which would cause the output to be alarmingly damp if you aren't expecting it; but would be a self-limiting problem since there just isn't that much water vapor available), there is the more serious possibility that the LCVG, or the heat exchanger that keeps the coolant water in that chilled, is leaking, which might actually end up being enough water to impair breathing(especially with surface tension but not gravity), or impair the cooling functions enough to threaten the astronaut's ability to function. If he's on a tether, they'd presumably just reel him in if he were to pass out from thermal overload; but a free walk would not be a good time to lose consciousness...