Spacewalk Aborted due to Water Leak in Astronaut's Helmet

A spacewalk outside the International Space Station was aborted after water began leaking into the helmet of astronaut Luca Parmitano about an hour and a half into a planned six-hour spacewalk, NASA reports.

"My head is really wet and I have a feeling it's increasing," Parmitano radioed to flight controllers in Houston, according to Reuters.

Parmitano reported feeling a lot of water on the back of his head after about an hour into the spacewalk, the Associated Press reported.

At first the astronaut suspected the water was sweat caused from exertion performed during routine cable work, but that was ruled out. Parmitano's spacewalk partner, U.S. astronaut Chris Cassidy, suspected the water may have been leaking from the astronaut's drinking bag.

The water eventually floated into Parmitano's eyes, which is when mission control ordered the two astronauts inside and terminated the mission.

"It's a lot of water. It's saturated and in his eyes and mouth," Cassidy, relaying a message from Parmitano, told mission control in Houston, according to Reuters.

Parmitano made his way to the space station's airlock while Cassidy stayed behind to gather tools and clean up the work site. Parmitano's was apparently so inundated that he could no longer use his spacesuit's communication system, Reuters reported. Cassidy relayed his soaked colleague's messages to mission control while the airlock was being re-pressurized.

"He looks miserable, but OK," Cassidy said.

According to NASA, Cassidy and Parmitano had "planned to complete a number of tasks to prepare for the arrival of a new Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module later this year, replace a video camera on the Japanese Exposed Facility experiment platform, relocate wireless television camera equipment, troubleshoot a balky door cover over electronic relay boxes on the station's truss and reconfigure a thermal insulation over a failed electronics box that was removed from the station's truss last year."

Just last week the 36-year-old became the first Italian national to ever walk in space.

Mission managers will reschedule the operations for a later date. None of the tasks were urgent and the space station crew are not in any danger, NASA reports.