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Journalism of Courage
NASA IS investigating reports that some astronauts may have flown while drunk, and it will develop a formal code of conduct for spaceflight, agency officials said.
US Congressional committees have already promising hearings on alcohol use. Officials said they had asked NASA safety chief Bryan D O8217;Connor to determine whether the agency has an alcohol problem.
The drinking allegations were made public on Thursday, in a report by the magazine Aviation Week 038; Space Technology about the findings of an independent panel. On Friday, the panel released some details.
In one incident, an astronaut was said to have been impaired by alcohol before a planned shuttle liftoff that was delayed by mechanical problems. Another report said that an astronaut flying to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft get drunk before the trip. No names or dates were given for either incident.
