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NASA report due on alcohol, astronauts
2007-08-29
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.
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