Garrett Reisman, a former NASA astronaut, said he had feared that he would drown on a spacewalk when his spacesuit helmet was filled with water due to a malfunction.
He tweeted this week: Astronaut Tip #217 - Make sure your bite valve is securely attached to your straw. My helmet was INSIDE my helmet when I saw mine floating by, I was not thrilled about the possibility of being the first astronaut to drown on a spacewalk.
NASA documentation states that the spacesuits have a drinking bag, which astronauts can access by gnawing on a tube.
Reisman, however, survived the ordeal. Reisman left NASA in 2011 to take a job at SpaceX. He is still an advisor there and now teaches aerospace engineering at the University of Southern California.
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He added that the bag's surface tension was sufficient to retain most of the water inside.
Although Reisman seems to not have ever spoken about the terrifying experience before, it isn't the first astronaut to go into near-drowning.
Luca Parmitanos, an Italian astronaut, began to leak into his suit during a spacewalk in 2013. This was after Chris Cassidy had been aboard NASA's 2013 spacewalk.
He wore a Parmitanos helmet that was filled with water.
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Parmitano said that I began to go back to the airlock, and the water continued trickling. It covered my eyes completely and my nose. It was very difficult to see. It was impossible to hear. It was very difficult to communicate. I used only memory to go back, basically going back until I found the airlock.
NASA was alarmed at the incident and eventually issued a complete report.
NASA spokesperson stated that of all the EVA problems we have encountered, this incident was the most serious. There have been no other EVA failures with this potential danger.
It is not known which spacewalk Reisman was aboard when the disaster almost struck. NASA says he participated in three spacewalks totaling over 21 hours between 2008 and 2010.
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Spacewalks: Russians search the exterior of ISS for signs of sabotage
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