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NASA debunks claims of drunken space flights
Washington (AFP) Aug 29, 2007 NASA's safety chief Wednesday dismissed sensational claims that astronauts had been drunk on flight missions, boosting the US space agency's battle to repair its tarnished credibility. A month-long review by head of safety Bryan O'Connor found no proof to the claims, which were made in July by a panel of outside experts investigating crew healthcare after a female astronaut's bizarre antics against a love rival. O'Connor, himself a former astronaut, reported that "I was unable to verify any case in which an astronaut space flight crew member was impaired on launch day." NASA administrator Michael Griffin poured scorn on the drunk-flying claims in the light of O'Connor's report, which spanned 94 missions of the space shuttle and 10 flights on the Russian Soyuz craft since 1987. In one case involving the Soyuz, a NASA astronaut was said to be so inebriated at the launch base in Kazakhstan that a US flight surgeon stayed in his room overnight for fear that he might choke to death in his sleep. "There is a website for urban legends. Go look it up. There are quite a number of things out there that are cited that are not true. This story is one of them," Griffin told a news conference. O'Connor detailed "moderate" drinking of beer and wine during off-duty hours, and described finding a half-empty bottle of tequila in crew quarters on one inspection. But his 45-page study included a letter signed by all 20 of NASA's flight surgeons denying any pre-flight or on-board inebriation among astronauts before shuttle or Soyuz flights, or on NASA's T-38 training jet. Overall, O'Connor said he was "confident that there are reasonable safeguards in place to prevent an impaired crew member from boarding a spacecraft." The July appraisal overseen by a top US Air Force physician had found "heavy use of alcohol" inside the standard 12-hour "bottle to throttle" abstinence period for NASA crews. Two drinking incidents were highlighted -- one ahead of a space shuttle mission that was eventually delayed, and another involving the Soyuz mission bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The July findings formed part of a review of crew health ordered by Griffin after the February arrest of astronaut Lisa Nowak, who had allegedly tried to kidnap a rival for another astronaut's affections. Griffin, praising the professionalism of shuttle crews, said the stories of drinking had always seemed "improbable to those of us familiar with the astronauts' rigorous and very public activities" just before a mission. Nevertheless, the space and aeronautics subcommittee of the House of Representatives is due to hold a hearing next week into the issues raised over NASA crews' physical and mental health. After the publication of the July report by senior Air Force medical officer Richard Bachmann, committee chairman Mark Udall warned that the claims were a "wake-up" call for NASA. Bachmann's report was based on anecdotal evidence of pre-flight drunkenness and his panel was not empowered to follow up the claims with detailed interviews of crew members, prompting NASA to commission O'Connor's review. Bachmann, whose findings were reportedly attacked by NASA astronauts as flimsy hearsay, said at the time that there was "no way to know if they were isolated incidents or the top of a large iceberg." But O'Connor said the only launch-day use of alcohol he had found over the past two decades by US astronauts had been the traditional toast of champagne given by Russian commanders before Soyuz flights. O'Connor did recommend that NASA improve oversight by flight surgeons in the final countdown to launch, to detect any last-minute medical problem afflicting an astronaut. The drinking allegations had dented confidence at NASA with the space agency only just recovering from the 2003 breakup of the shuttle Columbia, which killed all seven astronauts aboard. The claims coincided with the discovery by NASA workers of apparent sabotage of a computer due to be transported by the shuttle Endeavour to the ISS this month. The computer's wires had been cut. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News
Science Teachers Take Flight In Zero-Gravity
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 29, 2007The Northrop Grumman Foundation kicked off the second year of its Weightless Flights of Discovery Program today, flying 57 teachers in Dallas, with another 58 scheduled to fly in New Orleans on Aug. 30. These are the first of the flights in eight cities planned as part of the company's program to inspire the next generation of scientists, mathematicians and engineers -- critical areas where the U.S. has fallen behind globally. |
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