Aug 29 2007
From The Space Library
NASA released safety-review findings that showed no evidence of astronauts using alcohol improperly before spaceflight. NASA Chief of Safety and Mission Assurance Bryan D. O’Connor had conducted the review to evaluate allegations included in the Astronaut Health Care System Review Committee’s report, released in late July. For the safety review, which covered the past 20 years of spaceflight, NASA had interviewed approximately 90 participants in and witnesses to the activities that had occurred during the last few days before Shuttle and Soyuz launches. In addition, NASA had reviewed more than 40,000 records, from as far back as 1984, including reports of mishaps and close calls, anonymous safety reports, safety-hotline reports, and alcohol- and drug-related disciplinary actions, as well as NASA’s relevant policies and procedures. The review had also included an inspection of crew quarters at NASA’s JSC in Houston and NASA’s KSC in Florida. O’Connor remarked that the investigation had been much more exhaustive than NASA’s usual response to an anonymous allegation concerning a matter of safety; therefore, he expressed confidence that NASA had sufficient safeguards to prevent an impaired crew member from participating in spaceflight.
NASA, “NASA Safety Review Finds No Evidence of Improper Alcohol Use by Astronauts Before Space Flight,” news release 07-184, 29 August 2007, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/aug/HQ_07184_oconnor_alcohol_study.html (accessed 14 June 2010); Warren E. Leary, “No Evidence of Drunken Astronauts, NASA Says,” New York Times, 30 August 2007.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
