CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A group of NASA astronauts consumed a heavy amount of alcohol before launch, according to an independent health panel report.
Aviation Week & Space Technology, a weekly trade journal, reported the finding from the panel on its Web site. The weekly said that the committee found that on at least two occasions, astronauts were allowed to fly after flight surgeons and other astronauts warned they were so intoxicated that they posed a flight-safety risk.
The alcohol use by astronauts was within the standard 12-hour "bottle-to-throttle" rule applied to NASA flight crew members, Aviation Week reported. The panel was created following the arrest in February of former space shuttle flier Lisa Nowak, who was implicated in a love triangle
"The obvious answer is no. I've never had any incidence of that," a NASA official said when asked if the agency has ever had an experience with a drunken astronaut.
On Thursday afternoon, a media representative at Johnson Space Center in Houston said no one was answering any questions on the matter. NASA has scheduled a news conference for Friday to release the findings of a pair of reviews into astronauts' health. MagazineLane.com
Aviation Week & Space Technology, a weekly trade journal, reported the finding from the panel on its Web site. The weekly said that the committee found that on at least two occasions, astronauts were allowed to fly after flight surgeons and other astronauts warned they were so intoxicated that they posed a flight-safety risk.
The alcohol use by astronauts was within the standard 12-hour "bottle-to-throttle" rule applied to NASA flight crew members, Aviation Week reported. The panel was created following the arrest in February of former space shuttle flier Lisa Nowak, who was implicated in a love triangle
"The obvious answer is no. I've never had any incidence of that," a NASA official said when asked if the agency has ever had an experience with a drunken astronaut.
On Thursday afternoon, a media representative at Johnson Space Center in Houston said no one was answering any questions on the matter. NASA has scheduled a news conference for Friday to release the findings of a pair of reviews into astronauts' health. MagazineLane.com
