Terrifying move astronaut had to make during spacewalk to save himself from ‘one of the biggest dangers’ in space

We've watched enough sci-fi movies to know that space is a terrifying place.

We don't just mean because of the extraterrestrial menaces from Alien and Independence Day, but in general, that gloomy abyss is a big ol' uncharted mass of horrors.

The Martian, Gravity, and more have shown more realistic dangers, while the various disasters and malfunctions from the real-life space race have taught us that the cosmos can be a cruel mistress.

When you're hundreds of kilometers in the air, there must be nothing worse than the realization that something has gone wrong.

With help from Earth being miles away, you're often left at the mercy of your own smarts and hoping that you can fix whatever has gone wrong.

This happened to European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano, who faced the unthinkable when he nearly 'drowned' during a spacewalk.

With the ocean being a dot on the horizon, you might think that drowning in space was one of those things astronauts don't really have to worry about.

In 2013, the Italian astronaut was taking a spacewalk with fellow spaceman Christopher Cassidy.

Parmitano was surprised to feel water creeping up the back of his neck in his helmet, but out in space, it's not as simple as taking your helmet off and shaking out the water.

Even as Parmitano was trying to figure out what was going on and repeatedly warned mission control, his helmet continued to fill with water like a goldfish bowl.

At a height of 420km (261 miles) above the Earth, Parmitano found his nose and mouth covered with water, while he'd also lost the use of his sight as it rose above his eyes.

The incident took place on a six-hour mission outside the International Space Station (ISS), and although Parmitano originally thought it was his drinking bag that was leaking, he eventually learned it was much worse.

Apparently, the cooling tank is his spacesuit had ruptured and was now leaking into his helmet. Because Parmitano was blind from the water, he couldn't see his way back to safety.

To make matters worse, the water had covered his ears so he was no longer able to hear his colleagues giving advice.

Luca Parmitano had a lucky escape (European Space Agency)

Parmitano managed to survive the ordeal, and in a split-second decision, managed to find his safety cable.

Able to pull hisself back to the ship, Parmitano was met by his crew mates, who were able to remove the helmet and mop up the water so it didn't get into any of the instruments.

Parmitano described the harrowing experience in a video for the European Space Agency, explaining: "The water kept trickling until it completely covered my eyes and my nose. It was really hard to see. I couldn't hear anything. It was really hard to communicate. I went back using just memory, basically going back to the airlock until I found it."

If it wasn't for Parmitano's quick thinking, things could've been much worse.

Astronauts are trained for most eventualities, but when you're bobbing around in space, drowning probably isn't that high on your list of probable accidents.