NASA Astronaut Drowns During Spacewalk

According to NASA documents, spacesuits have a drinking bag that astronauts can access by biting into a tube. Garrett Reisman, a former NASA astronaut, had a small panic attack during a spacewalk, believing that he would drown when his spacesuit helmet started to fill with water as a result of a malfunction in this part.

“Astronaut Tip #217: Make sure your bite valve is firmly attached to your water bag straw,” said Reismann, noting that the thought of being the first astronaut to drown during a spacewalk didn’t excite him at all.

Reisman isn’t the only one approaching drowning this way.

Reisman, who left NASA in 2011 for a position at SpaceX, where he still works as a consultant, and is now teaching aerospace engineering at the University of Southern California, escaped drowning at the last minute, as the surface tension was sufficient to keep most of the water in the bag. It is not clear exactly which spacewalk Reisman was on at the time of the almost catastrophic event. According to NASA, Reisman made three separate spacewalks between 2008 and 2010, totaling more than 21 hours.

It seems that Reisman isn’t the only one in space to come close to drowning like this. During a spacewalk with NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy in 2013, Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano’s drinking bag also started leaking into his spacesuit – this time much more violently than Reismann’s. Parmitano describes this horrific event that happened to him, “I started going back to the airlock and the water kept dripping. It completely covered my eyes and nose. It was really hard to see. I couldn’t hear anything. It was really difficult to communicate. I just went back using my memory, basically back to the airlock until I found it. ‘ he told me.

After this incident, NASA was alarmed and later published a detailed report. Speaking about the incident, a NASA spokesperson emphasized the seriousness of the incident, saying, “Of all the EVA problems we have encountered so far, I can say that it is probably the most serious problem we have encountered.”