The term 'spaced out' has acquired a new meaning after revelations that Nasa astronauts were drunk on the job. A scary thought, isnt it, that those at the wheel as you are hurtling through the galaxy are not quite in their senses? True, you are not likely to face an oncoming rush of traffic while driving under the influence out there. But imagine a situation in which a space shuttle takes off for Mars but ends up on Saturn because the captain was too sozzled to read the road signs correctly. Or mistaking an approaching meteorite for a new planet, tries to plant the American flag on it?
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.