NASA Deals With Drunk Astronauts And Worker Sabotage

Posted: Fri 10:50 AM, Jul 27, 2007

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (AP) - NASA today is expected to discuss two startling reports of astronaut behavior and worker sabotage.

A special panel created after the arrest of an astronaut in a love triangle has reportedly determined that on two occasions, astronauts were so drunk they posed a safety risk but were allowed to fly anyway. The panel's findings, first reported by Aviation Week and Space Technology, are to be released in a health report today.

A NASA official confirms the report contains allegations of two astronauts flying drunk and others drinking heavily within 12 hours of launch, in violation of the flight rules. But he says they're from anonymous interviews and aren't substantiated.

In a separate incident, the space agency says an employee for a NASA subcontractor cut the wires in a computer that was to be delivered to the international space station on board a shuttle flight next month. A manager says the damage would have posed no danger to either the shuttle or the space station. NASA hopes to fix the computer by launch time.

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