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Forum:Space Shuttles - Space Station
Topic:ISS Expedition 36: US (23) spacewalk (7/16/13)
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Robert PearlmanLuca Parmitano has recounted his experience "drowning" in his spacesuit on his ESA blog:
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.

I try to contact Chris and Shane: I listen as they talk to each other, but their voices are very faint now: I can hardly hear them and they can't hear me. I'm alone. I frantically think of a plan. It's vital that I get inside as quickly as possible. I know that if I stay where I am, Chris will come and get me, but how much time do I have? It's impossible to know. Then I remember my safety cable. Its cable recoil mechanism has a force of around 3lb that will 'pull' me towards the left. It's not much, but it's the best idea I have: to follow the cable to the airlock. I force myself to stay calm and, patiently locating the handles by touch, I start to move, all the while thinking about how to eliminate the water if it were to reach my mouth. The only idea I can think of is to open the safety valve by my left ear: if I create controlled depressurisation, I should manage to let out some of the water, at least until it freezes through sublimation, which would stop the flow. But making a 'hole' in my spacesuit really would be a last resort...

Robert PearlmanNASA video release
Station Crew Recreates Spacesuit Leak

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