CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A spacewalking astronaut ended up with unwanted water in his helmet Wednesday after breezing through a cable and lube job outside the International Space Station.
The leak was scarily reminiscent of a near-drowning outside the orbiting complex nearly two years ago.
This time, the amount of water was relatively small – essentially a big blob of water floating inside Terry Virts’ helmet. In the summer of 2013, another spacewalking astronaut’s helmet actually flooded. He barely made it back inside.
Virts was never in any danger, Mission Control stressed, and he never reported any water during his 6 1/2 hours outside.
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NASA has contracted out space station deliveries so it can concentrate on getting astronauts farther afield in the decades ahead, namely to Mars.
Online:
NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission-pages/station/main/index.html
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