Astronauts postpone walking because the water in the hat

The space flight of two orbiter astronauts on July 16 was destroyed due to water accumulating inside an Italian astronaut's hat.

US Aerospace Agency (NASA) wants two astronauts Chris Cassidy (USA) and Luca Parmitano (Italy) to leave the International Space Station (ISS) to work for 6 hours on July 16. But an hour before the time when the two astronauts performed the task, Parmitano discovered the water inside his hat, the AP reported.

"My head is wet and I feel the level of wet increasing , " Parmitano told the control center in the city of Houston, Texas, USA.

Astronaut Luca Parmitano clings to the International Space Station's arm during his walk in space on July 9.(Photo: NASA)

At first Parmitano thought his water bag leaked. So he poured all the water in his pocket. But then the droplets continued to appear in the hat.

"Where does the water come from? A lot of countries appear in hats. Now it is in my eyes , " he said.

Because Parmitano is at risk of suffocation because of the liquid in the cap, NASA decided to cancel the walk around 13h GMT on July 16.

"Obviously he is having problems," said David Korth, director of the control center, speaking at a press conference yesterday.

The initial analysis results show that liquid appears by a crack. The liquid in the hat's lining came out through that crack, " Korth said.

Engineers believe that about 1 to 1.5 liters of water had accumulated inside Parmitano's cap at the time other astronauts removed their hats from his head.