It has not been a great time for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Months after it grabbed negative headlines when one of its astronauts, Lisa M Nowak, stalked and threatened a woman over romantic rivalry, NASA is again in none-too-flattering news.
This time over reports that its astronauts went into space despite being intoxicated a potential flight risk.
The magazine, Aviation Week & Space Technology, which broke the story said despite NASA's 12-hour 'bottle to throttle' rule which prohibits drinking for 12 hours before flights -- and despite medical officers' warnings its astronauts were allowed to fly.
Later in the day NASA will unveil a report that admits to 'heavy use' of alcohol by astronauts, although the report remains silent on which astronauts were found to be drunk and on which missions.
The report, in fact, has its origins in the Lisa Nowak incident. Dr Mike Griffin, head of NASA, had ordered a review of how the agency assessed its astronauts' mental health following the Nowak love dispute, and today's report is said to be an offshoot of that.
Negligence over safety issues has haunted NASA before, which is why the present charge is being pursued seriously. In 2003, following the Columbia shuttle disaster, an investigation blamed managers for ignoring safety risks in order to adhere to the time schedules.
Even as NASA battles the alcoholism charge, comes another embarrassment over reports that wires had been deliberately cut on a computerised recording device meant for the space station on board space shuttle Endeavour.
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