Astronauts Flew While Intoxicated

[Brian Abraham]

Panel Finds Astronauts Flew While Intoxicated

Jul 26, 2007

By Frank Morring, Jr./Aviation Week & Space Technology

A panel reviewing astronaut health issues in the wake of the Lisa Nowak arrest has 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 panel, also reported "heavy use of alcohol" by astronauts before launch, within the standard 12-hour "bottle to throttle" rule applied to NASA flight crew members.

A NASA spokesman declined comment on the findings, which were obtained by Aviation Week & Space Technology. The spokesman said a press conference has tentatively been scheduled for Friday afternoon on the issue. At the direction of Administrator Michael Griffin, NASA Chief Medical Officer Dr. Richard S. Williams set up the panel to review astronaut medical and psychological screening after Nowak was arrested in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 5 on charges of attempted murder and attempted kidnapping for allegedly stalking and threatening a woman who was dating another astronaut. The attempted murder charge was subsequently dropped.

The panel is composed of military and civilian government physicians, psychologists, lawyers, safety experts and astronauts under the chairmanship of U.S. Air Force Col. Richard Bachmann, dean of the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine. Panel members visited Johnson Space Center in April to gather information from flight surgeons and the astronaut office on astronaut health screening. A panel member said Wednesday the report was still in draft form, and probably would be released in August. Separately, Griffin ordered JSC Director Mike Coats to review intake and on-going psychological screening for astronaut candidates and astronauts, and to recommend changes if necessary.

From http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/drunk072607.xml&headline=Panel%20Finds%20Astronauts%20Flew%20While%20Intoxic ated&channel=space

[amos2]

From the dust jacket of Charlie Dukes book, Moonwalker, describing a launch...

" I felt a tremendous vibration, and the spacecraft began to shake!
I was startled. Why is it shaking so hard? I wondered anxiously. What in the world is happening? There's something wrong with this thing..."

That's enough to drive any one to drink!!

[Ace Rimmer]

Let us consider the situation....

You are on a one of the most complex vehicles constructed by man each part made by the lowest bidder. Furthermore, many of the parts have been scavenged from other such vehicles, installed and re-installed many times. Now then this vehicle is fueled by the two of the most bang worthy elements known to man - which you mix and light....oh and you keep the fuel in a big tank next to two of the bigggest fireworks ever made....

If anything serious goes wrong in the early part of the flight...you probably die

If anything serious goes wrong in the cruise....you probably die

If anything serious goes wrong in the descent...you probably die

and there ain't no go around...



Yep...I might want a stiffener before flying the fecker too

[waldopepper42]

You'd never get me anywhere near one of those things sober!!!!

[evilroy]

My 2c:
I'm wondering whatever happened to the zero BAC rule, rather than the 12 hour bottle-to-throttle rule for these people.

It has been reported that the flights involved were a Soyuz flight (as pax) and a T-38 flight (as pax). Not acceptable, IMO, but the media (Aviation leak) might be jazzing things up things a little. Still bad, 'cause you shouldn't be anywhere near those systems if affected by alc-a-ma-hol, but we need to find out how they got there. Did a flight surgeon withhold data? Was it reported to ops, and ops failed to act? We need to know more about what happened...

Lastly, the comments about "... you die..." are grossly overstated. There are various abort modes, each with pretty damn good chances of survival. Granted, you don't have a launch escape system but unless you get a Crit 1 failure, the abort modes will most likely get you back safe.

[Crosshair]

My initial reaction to the news was surprise that these astronauts, on what would be the flight of a lifetime for any pilot and for which civilians are paying millions of dollars, would dull their senses with alcohol.

Then I thought about "The Right Stuff" and the part about "spam in a can" -- nothing under your control and you die if anything goes wrong -- and why not be drunk then? That seems to be the spirit (ha ha) of the earlier posts in this thread.

But I think what may be happening here is career disappointment. These astronauts joined the program 20 years ago, figuring that by now they'd at least be the airline pilots of space, probably flying to Mars and doing all sorts of groundbreaking things. And what is the peak of their careers? An orbital flight (or two) of the sort that was cutting-edge in the 1950s. Any excitement seems to have to do with whether the spacecraft was damaged too much during launch to return safely. Sometimes there's a spacewalk TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SHUTTLE to see if that's so.

Let's hope the new commercial space ventures will change things.

[evilroy]

Crosshair,

You raise some very valid points but although the modern astronauts are only in LEO, they are doing tasks - working - in space in a way that was practically unheard of 40 years ago. They have repaired satellites. They have built a space station.

It might be worthwhile to remember the opinions of the late, great Pete Conrad (Commander of Apollo 12, third man to step onto the Moon). He often remarked that the Apollo 12 lunar landing - although fantastic - was NOT the highlight of his career. He considered his Skylab I mission to be the 'jewel in the crown'. He had to repair a broken space station, and make it ready for others to follow.

And let's not forget that the astronauts who are joining today are likely to be making moonwalks - and possibly even Mars missions, if they want to stay around. Look at John Young: 2 x Gemini flights, 2 x Apollo flights, 2 x Shuttle flights (including the maiden flight of the Shuttle).

[dkaarma]

Lastly, the comments about "... you die..." are grossly overstated. There are various abort modes, each with pretty damn good chances of survival. Granted, you don't have a launch escape system but unless you get a Crit 1 failure, the abort modes will most likely get you back safe.

Well considering that there has never been an opportunity to use an abort procedure as all loss of crews have been almost instantaneous and without warning i think the "...you die..." comments are pretty valid