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 6½ hours outside.
This was the second spacewalk in five days for NASA astronauts Virts and Butch Wilmore, who encountered no trouble while routing cables for future American crew capsules, due to arrive in a couple years.
Three spacewalks had been planned, with the next one Sunday, but its status was uncertain given Wednesday's mishap. Managers will meet Friday, as planned, to discuss the situation.
Wednesday's spacewalk had just ended and the two astronauts were inside the air lock, with the hatches closed, when the incident occurred. The air lock was being repressurized when Virts first noticed the water. He said he reported it about a minute later.
The absorbent pad inside the back of Virts' helmet was damp, but not saturated, said Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, one of the station's six crew members. The pad became standard procedure after the 2013 emergency.
Cristoforetti removed Virts' helmet and wiped his face with a towel once he was out of the air lock and reunited with his colleagues. She noted that his neck was wet and cold.
The water - cold to the touch with a chemical taste - most likely came from the suit's cooling system, the source of the leak in 2013. Mission Control described the amount of water as "minor," at least compared with 2013.
Virts, a 47-year-old Air Force colonel, spent about half of Wednesday's spacewalk lubricating screws, brackets and tracks on the end of the space station's giant robot arm. The snares had gotten a bit creaky over the past year, increasing the motor current, and engineers hoped the grease would make operations smoother.
"We're the cable guys. Now we're the grease monkeys - or I am," Virts radioed.
"Yep, you guys have a life after NASA," replied Mission Control. "That's good work."
That's when the spacewalk ended - and Virts noticed the water. A camera zoomed in on a big bubble floating near his left eye.
"Yeah, Terry, we can see it. Thanks for making it ripple," Mission Control said.