Only drunk the day before... - January 24, 2008
The long running saga of NASA’s “drunken astronauts” may finally be wrapped up. On the off chance you’re not bored by this epic, the latest report found a “single isolated incident of perceived impairment of a crew member which occurred in the final days before launch, but not on launch day or within 12 hours of a launch or aviation event”.
This follows on from the last report in August last year which was “unable to verify any case in which an astronaut spaceflight crewmember was impaired on launch day”. That report came after another in July which stated “two specific instances were described where astronauts had been so intoxicated prior to flight that flight surgeons and/or fellow astronauts raised concerns to local on-scene leadership regarding flight safety”.
So first there were two, then were none, now there is one.
The report is actually part of a wider inquiry into astronaut health, as the Orlando Sentinel does a nice job of explaining.
Other news coverage: CNN; NY Times; Space.com.
Image: Punchstock
Comments
What gives with all this stuff. If they we're gonna strap me on that much fuel and light it, I'd demand a couple of Tequila shooters. What wimps we've become.
I don't recall that astronauts get to drive the thing up the gravity well.
Posted by: Vanderleun | January 25, 2008 12:40 AM