NASA Finds That Spacesuit Near-Drowning Was Avoidable

A potentially deadly spacesuit water leak that nearly drowned an Italian astronaut during a spacewalk last July was one of the scariest close calls in NASA's spacewalk history. In fact, the spacesuit also leaked during an earlier spacewalk, but went undetected at the time, according to a NASA report released Feb. 26.

The announcement came as NASA released the results of an investigation into the harrowing spacewalk on July 16, 2013, in which water flooded the spacesuit helmet of Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano, forcing NASA to abort the spacewalk to get him to safety. In the end, the malfunction was completely unexpected and unlike anything the space agency planned for. Read more...