The New York Times-20080124-2nd Survey Finds Astronauts Haven-t Drunk Before Flights
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2nd Survey Finds Astronauts Haven't Drunk Before Flights
A new survey of astronauts and flight surgeons shows no evidence of crew members' going on space missions drunk or impaired by alcohol, NASA officials said Wednesday.
The anonymous survey, taken over the Internet by all 31 NASA flight surgeons and 87 of 98 current astronauts, is the second recent investigation to find no indication of drunkenness among astronauts immediately before launching into space.
The inquiries responded to a report last year that cited two unconfirmed incidents in which an astronaut was reportedly impaired by alcohol before flying.
The new survey found one isolated incident involving an apparent interaction between prescription medication and alcohol, Ellen Ochoa, deputy director of the Johnson Space Center and a former astronaut, said on a conference call with reporters.
The crew member in the incident, which was in the final days before a mission, was subsequently cleared for the flight, officials said.
In response to a direct question regarding personal observations, all respondents reported never witnessing a crew member consume alcohol, on launch day, in the time leading up to launch, a space agency report said.
Accusations of potentially drunken astronauts arose last July in a report by an independent committee looking into astronaut health care after the arrest of Capt. Lisa M. Nowak of the Navy on charges of attacking a romantic rival at an airport. Captain Nowak was dismissed from the astronaut corps.
The NASA safety chief, Bryan D. O'Connor, investigated different reports. Mr. O'Connor said in a report in August that his interviews with astronauts and flight doctors had found no evidence that they were true.
NASA officials said they did not know whether the drug-alcohol-interaction incident in the new survey was one of those in the original health report.
