Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to NASA REPORT: Bottle to THROTTLE

Excerpt fromt the report

Finding: 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 flight safety concerns. Alcohol is freely used in crew quarters. 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. However, the individuals were still permitted to fly. The medical certification of astronauts for flight duty is not structured to detect such episodes, nor is any medical surveillance program by itself likely to detect them or change the pattern of alcohol use.

NASA Astronaut Health Care System Review Committee Report to the Administrator

I was looking for some clarification of whether theyr'e talking about T38 aircraft flights or Shuttle missions. The way I read it, NASA uses the word "flight" to mean spaceflight, unless otherwise specified; and the report does not specify T38 or other aircraft flights. Sounds to me that the report is indeed saying that astronauts flew drunk on at least two Shuttle missions.

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