Tim Peake made history on Friday by becoming the first British astronaut to officially step outside an orbiting craft and undertake a spacewalk.

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Peake's mission to replace a failed electrical box on the International Space Station was successful but the walk had to be cut short when his fellow astronaut, American Colonel Tim Kopra, discovered a water globule two inches wide inside his helmet.

After sampling the liquid Kopra found it was cold, suggesting a leak in his space suit's cooling system, something that in the past has led to a life-threatening situation when an astronaut's view was obscured by the water.

Nasa cut short the spacewalk, which was originally scheduled to last for six and a half hours, and the two astronauts returned safely to the ISS after four hours and 43 minutes outside.

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Neither seemed too phased by the unexpected turn of events, with Peake later sharing his excitement at the "exhilarating" experience on Twitter and thanking Nasa's ground crew for their help.

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