By MARCIA DUNN/AP Aerospace Writer/February 26, 2014

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) NASA could have prevented last summers near-drowning of a spacewalking astronaut at the International Space Station, an investigation panel concluded Wednesday.

Italian astronaut Luca Parmitanos helmet filled with water July 16 during his second spacewalk in a week. He barely made it back inside alive.

But according to the panels report, his helmet also had leaked at the end of his first spacewalk a week earlier. The panel said the space station team misdiagnosed the first failure and should have delayed the second spacewalk until the problem was understood.

This event was not properly investigated, said Chris Hansen, NASAs chief space station engineer and chairman of the investigation board created by the space agency after the close call.

There was a lack of understanding in the severity of the event, Hansen said during a news conference.

Space station officials even the astronauts themselves presumed the leak was from a water drink bag in the suit when, in fact, that was not the culprit, he noted.

Investigators said Parmitanos calm demeanor during the incident quite possibly saved his life. It was fortunate he was relatively close to the space station entrance when the helmet flooded, Hansen noted.

Now 37, Parmitano is a former test pilot and an officer in the Italian Air Force who was making his first space mission. He returned to Earth in November.

The precise cause of the water leakage is still under review.

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