Spacesuit flood

WATER is an extra-slippery customer in space. Last July, an astronaut nearly drowned when liquid filled his spacesuit helmet. A clogged water pump was to blame, NASA has now concluded. Luca Parmitano was working outside the International Space Station when he felt liquid on the back of his head. Water rapidly floated into his eyes, nose and mouth but he managed to abandon the spacewalk in time and make it back inside the ISS. Now NASA has announced the cause of the problem: a waterseparation pump – part of the suit’s cooling system – became clogged, causing water to back up and flow into the suit’s air vents.