NASA responds to claims of drinking problem

The independent panel said astronauts and flight surgeons told the committee about heavy drinking by crew members just before flights. Also, the panel said alcohol is "freely used in crew quarters," where astronauts are quarantined at the Kennedy Space Center in the three days before launch.

Only four paragraphs of the 12-page report dealt with alcohol use by astronauts.

"Two specific instances were described where astronauts had been so intoxicated prior to flight that flight surgeons and-or fellow astronauts raised concerns to local on-scene leadership regarding flight safety," the panel. "However, the individuals were still permitted to fly."

The eight-member panel included experts in aerospace medicine and medical legal matters, and clinical psychiatrists, all affiliated with government agencies. Fourteen astronauts, all but one with spaceflight experience, were interviewed by the panel, as well as five family members. In addition, eight flight surgeons were interviewed.

Based on those interviews, the panel said NASA was not set up in such a way to deal with alcohol use by astronauts.

“The medical certification of astronauts for flight duty is not structured to detect such episodes, nor is any medical surveillance program by itself likely to detect them or change the pattern of alcohol use,” the panel wrote.

The panel recommended that NASA hold individuals and supervisors accountable for responsible use of alcohol, and that policies be instituted involving drinking before flight.

Dale accepted many of the panel's recommendations, including one calling for a formal code of conduct for astronauts to follow. She said astronauts and flight surgeons would be surveyed anonymously to gather input for new policies. She also said the agency would step up its efforts to encourage "open communication," particularly about safety concerns.

Some of the independent panel's observations echoed concerns raised by the panel investigating the 2003 Columbia tragedy. That panel said NASA's top managers often ignored concerns raised by lower-level employees, to such an extent that the agency had a "broken safety culture." Dale said the new report indicated that more cultural changes may be in order.

"Changes in culture do not happen overnight," she said.

Bachmann and his group acknowledged that some of the cultural issues cited in the report have existed since the beginning of the astronaut program. NASA's earliest astronauts were fighter pilots who often lived and drank hard; that was the essence of being a test pilot, recalled Seymour Himmel, a retired NASA executive.

“I remember some of our pilots used to say they didn’t drink within 12 feet of a ship or smoke the day before,” he said with a laugh. “These were very good test pilots.”

In another finding, the panel reported that flight surgeons’ medical opinions were not valued by higher-ups. Several senior flight surgeons told the panel that officials only wanted to hear that all medical systems "were 'go' for on-time mission completion."

The flight surgeons told the panel that higher-ups in NASA were notified of "major crew medical or behavioral problems," but that the flight surgeons’ medical advice was ignored.

"This disregard was described as 'demoralizing' to the point where they said they are less likely to report concerns of performance decrement," the panel wrote. "Crew members raised concerns regarding substandard astronaut task performance which were similarly disregarded."

The panel recommended that astronauts have psychiatric evaluations as part of their yearly physical exams. Their report said astronauts don’t undergo psychiatric reviews after they are selected unless they are picked for a long mission.

Lisa Nowak case reviewed
Annual psychiatric evaluations also emerged as a recommendation in the Johnson Space Center report. The internal report said that such evaluations should also be conducted as part of the flight assessments for shuttle crew members, and that an assessment of fitness for flight duties should be given more weight in astronaut medical selections.

Video Ex-astronaut denies wearing diaper June 29: An attorney for Lisa Nowak went on an angry tirade against the media Friday outside of an Orlando courtroom. WESH-TV's Michelle Meredith reports. NBC News Channel

In the report, NASA investigators said "there were no indications that something could have predicted" what Nowak was accused of doing in February. Nowak, who flew into space a year ago on the shuttle Discovery, is facing charges of assaulting Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman at Orlando International Airport in Florida because she was considered a rival for the affections of astronaut Bill Oefelein.

"Some employees mentioned that Nowak could sometimes be demanding and difficult to work with; however, she was viewed as being extremely capable, competent and hardworking," the report said.

The report said a few employees said Nowak "seemed a little stressed" after her flight, and that she was "difficult and rude to workers" during a public appearance in New York last October. A couple of people reportedly mentioned that she was "a little disappointed" when she missed out on a crew assignment in December. But none of those interviewed could think of any behavior that could have alerted them to Nowak's subsequent actions, the report said.

"Prior to the incident, most of the employees interviewed said they had not noticed a change in Nowak's behavior and were shocked when they heard what happened," the report said.

This report includes information from The Associated Press, Reuters and MSNBC.com.

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