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By SETH BORENSTEIN, Associated Press Wednesday, August 29, 2007
WASHINGTON -- NASA is set to release results of an internal investigation into whether a couple of astronauts were drinking heavily just before launch, but no one expects new details to emerge.
In recent weeks, top NASA officials said they could find no proven instances of drunken astronauts about to fly. They said they had examined what happened before launches in the past decade. As of late Tuesday, officials were still confident that no big embarrassments would emerge in the report due out Wednesday.
In July, an independent panel said there were at least two unverified and unidentified instances of astronauts drinking heavily before a flight. The panel was formed to look at astronaut health issues because of the bizarre case of astronaut Lisa Nowak, who was arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping of a romantic rival.
The panel's 12-page report last month said: "Interviews with both flight surgeons and astronauts identified some episodes of heavy use of alcohol by astronauts in the immediate preflight period, which has led to safety concerns."
One instance involved a shuttle astronaut that a colleague claimed had had to much too drink; the colleague alerted others only after the launch was delayed because of mechanical instances.
The other involved an astronaut drinking alcohol before flying on a Russian Soyuz capsule to the international space station. Drinking, especially toasts, are common in the Russian space program.
In both cases -- in which no names were given -- the report said that flight surgeons and/or fellow astronauts raised safety worries with nearby officials in charge, yet "the individuals were still permitted to fly."
The panel didn't have the ability to investigate further, so NASA's safety chief, Bryan O'Connor, a former astronaut and shuttle accident investigator, was asked to investigate. O'Connor spent much of his time in Houston, where astronauts work, said NASA spokesman David Mould.
NASA administrator Michael Griffin this month pronounced pre-launch preparations for astronauts to be so visible that it is nearly impossible to sneak a drink.
"They would have to really want to drink and hide it really well," Griffin said before the launch of the shuttle Endeavour. He called the charges "uncredible."
Little has changed since then, Mould said Tuesday.
NASA to consider alcohol testing WASHINGTON — After fi nding no evidence of astronauts drinking before launching into space, NASA said Wednesday it is considering limited alcohol testing of its employees, including astronauts. An internal investigation recommended alcohol testing while at the same time clearing astronauts of much-publicized drinking allegations. In response, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said he would come up with a policy for testing after a mishap or when there are suspicions of substance abuse. It would, he said, be further validation of a sober space agency. The review released Wednesday could not verify two drinking allegations described by an independent panel last month, and Griffi n said they just didn’t happen. The report did acknowledge the availability of alcohol in crew quarters, noting that non-flying astronauts made booze-buying runs for their quarantined colleagues. The 45-page report by NASA safety chief Bryan O’Connor, a former astronaut and shuttle accident investigator, was initiated after the July report on astronaut health by eight medical experts. “I was unable to verify any case in which an astronaut spacefl ight crewmember was impaired on launch day” or any case where a manager disregarded warnings from another NASA employee that an astronaut not fly, said O’Connor’s report.
Who cares if they are/were drunk....we send tax $$ to the government all the time.....I would say it is essentially the same.....if you want to crash...go ahead....
If I had a rocket strapped to my butt....you bet I'd be snockered.....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Astronauts dispute drunkeness report CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — This weekend as the seven astronauts relax before Tuesday’s blastoff into space, the beer will be cold and waiting at crew quarters at Kennedy Space Center. No one will monitor how much they drink, no breath tests given. “We’re all professionals,” says Scott Kelly, commander of the last space shuttle mission in August. While the outside world was aghast at a medical report a few months ago suggesting two cases of drunkenness just before launch, the men and women who fly NASA’s space shuttles are indignant. “It’s just such an absurd thing to think that someone would even do that,” said Kelly, a Navy commander. “I don’t have the words to describe how ridiculous this whole thing is.” He and others agree there’s no harm in having a beer a day or two out, and he did just that. During the three days before liftoff, the shuttle crew is in semi-isolation at dormstyle quarters or at the beach house where astronauts enjoy barbecues with their spouses.
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