Life (2017) and the Real-Life NASA Wardrobe Malfunction: A Terrifying Blend of Fact and Fiction

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In case you are unfamiliar with the 2017 film Life, not to be confused with the Michael Keaton movie My Life from 1993, it is a space horror. Directed by Daniel Espinosa, the movie follows a group of astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) who discover life in the sample they receive from Mars. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, and Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds was originally cast as the lead character but scheduling conflicts with The Hitman’s Bodyguard led him to take a supporting role, while Gyllenhaal stepped into the lead role.

One of the most chilling aspects of Life is its incorporation of a real-life NASA wardrobe malfunction that occurred during a spacewalk in July 2013. Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano and another astronaut, Chris Cassidy, were heading out for a second walk to continue their work and do some maintenance. After forty-four minutes in space, the back of Luca’s head seemed to be wet. He wasn’t sure where the water was coming from. He reported the problem to Mission Control in Houston, and Chris asked if he was sweating.

“I am sweating,” Luca said, “But it feels like a lot of water. It’s not going anywhere, it’s just in my Snoopy cap. Just FYI.” They went back to work.
However, Karina Eversley, the officer in charge of spacewalks, knew something was wrong. That's not normal, she thought, and recruited a team of experts to compile questions for Luca. Was the amount of liquid increasing? Luca couldn’t tell.
Was he sure it was water? When he stuck out his tongue to capture a few of the drops that were floating in his helmet, the taste was metallic.

Mission Control terminated the spacewalk early. To get around the antenna they were working on, Luca flipped over. That’s when he couldn’t see clearly or breathe through his nose - blobs of liquid were covering his eyes and filling his nostrils. The liquid continued to accumulate. If it reached his mouth, Luca could drown. His only hope was to navigate quickly back to the airlock.

Luca managed to find his way back to the outer hatch of the airlock by using his memory and the tension in his tether. He wasn’t in the clear yet. He had to wait for Chris to close the hatch and repressurize the airlock before he could take off his helmet. There were several minutes of silence as he waited for the airlock to repressurize. His chance of survival growing less by the minute. When Luca’s helmet was removed, there was a quart and a half of liquid inside it. But Luca was alive. This horrifying event was used as inspiration for a scene in the movie, where the character Ekaterina Golovkina, portrayed by Olga Dykhovichnaya, faces a similar fate.

In the film, Ekaterina is a Russian astronaut and in charge of the ISS's crew. She is responsible for ensuring that the newly discovered life form, dubbed "Calvin," does not escape containment and endanger the crew. However, as the creature grows more intelligent and aggressive, it becomes increasingly difficult for the crew to keep it contained.

The scene in question occurs when Calvin escapes its containment and begins wreaking havoc on the ISS. In an attempt to kill Calvin, Ekaterina and her crew manage to get it outside the station. However, as they watch and wait, it becomes evident that Calvin is more resilient than they expected. They realize that the station is vulnerable for Calvin to get back inside. So Golovkina puts on her spacesuit and goes outside to secure the vulnerable section of the station and keep Calvin from getting back inside. However, as she makes her way back to the airlock, Calvin hitches a ride. This forces Golovkina to make a difficult choice. Save herself and let Calvin back in. Or remain outside and let space continue to sap Calvin’s strength. Calvin ups the stakes when he manages to puncture her suit, causing coolant to leak into her helmet. As the liquid fills her helmet, Ekaterina struggles to breathe and ultimately drowns, much like Parmitano nearly did during his real-life spacewalk.

The use of this real-life incident in the film adds a layer of authenticity and terror to the story. It serves as a reminder that space is an incredibly hostile environment, and even the most routine tasks can quickly turn deadly. The fact that this actually nearly happened to an astronaut makes the scene all the more terrifying, as it demonstrates that the dangers faced by the characters in Life are not merely the stuff of science fiction.

I think this scene will haunt me for the rest of my life. I discovered the story of the real-life wardrobe malfunction this past week while reading Adam Grant’s Think Again. What? How am I hearing about this nearly ten years later. It was news back in 2013 when it happened, as the video in the link below shows:



If you are interested in viewing the movie scene in question, the link is below:

Um - trigger warning - drowning??

This is why the Mantis Shrimp is my new favorite animal,
because in the presence of such extraordinary light and beauty it embraces

DARKNESS,
It extols DEATH with the luminescent brilliance of a
DYING STAR

. . . The Mantis Shrimp is the harbinger of blood-soaked rainbows


- The Oatmeal
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I love sci fi horror movies and that one for as subtle as it starts out really does a great job with the added suspense and real danger. Space as a fascinating and lethal place. I've been fascinated with it since I was a kid. That scene is definitely a powerful one regarding the real danger of being in space in general.
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