Chief astronaut Chris Cassidy, who was Parmitano’s partner during the aborted 2013 spacewalk, said the cold temperature of the water indicated a leak from somewhere in the spacesuit’s backpack, which contains a cooling system.
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Peake along with NASA astronaut Tim Kopra were tasked with repairing a broken power unit outside the International Space Station.
The pair ended its spacewalk at 12:31 p.m. EST with the repressurization of the U.S. Quest airlock following an early termination after Kopra reported a small water bubble had formed inside his helmet.
It’s not a decision NASA takes lightly, since getting astronauts ready for the spacewalk took five hours of preparation.
NASA tweeted that the mission had been terminated due to a “small amount of water” in Tim Kopra’s helmet. They planned to use a syringe to take a water sample and retrieve the helmet absorption pad to make a final determination of what caused the leak.
In a blog post on Thursday, Peake said he felt “exhilarated” but had “no time to dwell on these emotions”.
As the first spacewalker to wear the Union Jack, Peake, in particular, received a string of well wishes – from space as well as Earth. Peake is scheduled for more spacewalks during his six-month stay on the ISS and should be outside the station again in the next month or so.
Shortly after flight director Royce Renfrew at mission control learned of the dampness in Kopra’s helmet, he chose to cut short the spacewalk.
Both the astronauts were able to complete the primary mission. This is exciting for the European Space Agency as Peake will be become the first “official” British cosmonaut to complete a spacewalk.
Mr Kelly said: “The Union Jack has explored all over the world, now it’s exploring space”.
However, the situation brought back memories of a harrowing incident in 2013 when Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano s helmet began rapidly filling with water and risked drowning him.
“We re all watching, no pressure! Wishing you a happy stroll outdoors in the universe”, British musician Paul McCartney said on Twitter.
“It’s great to be wearing it”, answered Mr Peake.
Major Peake, a former Army Air Corps and helicopter test pilot, is the first Briton aboard the ISS and the first fully British professional astronaut employed by a space agency. Those pads and safety procedures came in handy Friday.
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The work site is about 200 feet from the astronauts’ exit, about as far as spacewalkers safely can go.
