NPR: NASA Probing Reports of Astronauts Flying Intoxicated

NASA Probing Reports of Astronauts Flying Intoxicated

Looks like NASA might be searching for a new motto -- something like "99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer."

This morning, The Washington Post details NASA's latest headache -- reports that astronauts were allowed to fly while intoxicated, even after getting warnings that they posed "a potential flight-safety risk." A NASA spokesman said that "one of two reviews of the medical and psychological health of astronauts scheduled to be made public today will include secondhand accounts of astronauts drinking before flights."

Aviation Week reports that the panel that conducted the review also said that there was lots of heavy drinking within the 12-hour "bottle-to-throttle" rule applied to flight crew members. The reviews came about as the result of another NASA scandal -- the bizarre Lisa Nowak love-triangle allegations.

NASA said the reports of drinking did not necessarily refer to flights on the space shuttle but could have happened on test flights on other vehicles.

Um, pardon me for saying so, but does it really matter? The idea of plastered pilots flying off into the wild blue yonder is disconcerting regardless of their particular vehicle. There are no cops to pull you over for a Breathalyzer test at 30,000 feet.

Add to that the Nowak case, and it seems to me that NASA has some pretty serious 'splaining to do.

9:45 AM ET | 07-27-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Now that they have love triangles, NASA wants to have ALL the things that Hollywood has. Like DUIs. That's what Paris Hilton thinks.

Sent by kres | 5:23 PM ET | 07-27-2007

Actually, kres, you just gave me an idea. Let's get Paris, Nicole, Lindsay and Brittney into diapers, give them a spaceship set to 'party mode,' stocked with plenty of booze and blow, then shoot them off into the cosmos. If they make it back, NASA will have a publicity stunt Hollywood couldn't hope to match. If they don't, well ... oops.

Sent by John R. Otten | 3:56 PM ET | 07-28-2007

I think the two people who have posted comments should keep reading the magazines at the checkout counter. Do you really think NASA would put people into space that were screwed up? You wish you had their qualifications don't you? The fact is people are people, and I bet there is more to the story.

Sent by Joe | 3:50 AM ET | 08-09-2007

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