ABU DHABI: Former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who will host the premiere episode of National Geographic Channel’s upcoming ten-episode series One Strange Rock, said he was almost blinded during a spacewalk.

Talking to XPRESS ahead of the show, Hadfield recalled how he nearly lost both eyes while trying to install the robotic arm, Canadarm2, of the International Space Station (ISS) in 2001.

“During the eventful day, my space suit got contaminated, leading to severe infection in both eyes. I was temporarily blinded. My eyes were stinging with tears but since there was no gravity, the tears couldn’t drain out. I was struggling badly when the mission control advised me to open the valve of my space suit. As soon as I did that, the oxygen hissed out and my tears dried. Soon my vision was restored and I heaved a sigh of relief,” said Hadfield who spend 166 days in space as ISS commander.

Produced by Darren Aronofsky and Will Smith (who also doubles as a narrator) the TV series will be aired on National Geographic at 9pm every Saturday.

The writer is an Abu Dhabi-based freelance journalist