NASA debunks claims of drunken space flights

AFP, August, 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) — NASA's safety chief Wednesday dismissed sensational claims that astronauts had been drunk on flight missions, boosting the US space agency's battle to repair its tarnished credibility.

A month-long review by head of safety Bryan O'Connor found no proof to the claims, which were made in July by a panel of outside experts investigating crew healthcare after a female astronaut's bizarre antics against a love rival.

O'Connor, himself a former astronaut, reported that "I was unable to verify any case in which an astronaut space flight crew member was impaired on launch day."

NASA administrator Michael Griffin poured scorn on the drunk-flying claims in the light of O'Connor's report, which spanned 94 missions of the space shuttle and 10 flights...