Astronaut remembers nearly drowning in space

Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano on Wednesday, August 21, recounted clinging to the International Space Station as he drowned in his spacesuit in the terrifying moments following an as-yet unexplained leak. Writing on his blog from the International Space Station, Parmitano said he felt drops of liquid on the back of his neck shortly after starting a spacewalk on July 16. Parmitano described being blinded and suffocated as he struggled to make his way back to the airlock, the water level quickly rising in his helmet. As communications grew becoming fainter with water covering his headphones, he struggled to hear instructions from Houston. Parmitano made it safely back inside and was unhurt, though NASA experts said he faced the risk of drowning had the ordeal gone on much longer.

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