Scaled Composites Family Support Fund, NSS“As many of you have heard, there was a serious accident last week at Scaled Composites, Burt Rutan’s pioneering company. Three lives were lost, including Charles ‘Glen’ May, an NSS member who was a leader within NSS’s Huntsville HAL5 Chapter. In addition, three employees suffered serious injuries. Scaled has announced information on a fund for those wishing to support the families of the deceased as […]

Russian official denies report astronaut drunk on Soyuz space flight, AP“We categorically deny the possibility that this could have happened at Baikonur,” Igor Panarin, spokesman for the Russian Space Agency, Roskosmos, told the Associated Press. “In the days at Baikonur before the launch this is absolutely impossible. They are constantly watched by medics and psychiatrists.”

Woes Enough to Drive NASA to Drink, NY Times Blog“Shana Dale has an unenviable job to do this afternoon: Standing before the TV cameras and reporters and explaining that American astronauts may have flown while drunk. It’s been an embarrassing couple of days for NASA, and the snockered rocket jockeys ain’t the half of it. The agency also had to announce that somebody had deliberately sabotaged a computer meant for […]

Editor’s note: Jim Oberg appears about half-way through this clip from Channel 4 (below) which seeks to portray American astronauts as drunks. When Jim appears he sets an idiotic talking head straight – one located halfway around the world who seems to be using UK tabloids as “sources” as opposed to the actual NASA report. Alas, this dolt is so dense that he does not understand what Jim is saying. […]

Transcript: NASA Press Conference Regarding Findings of Astronaut Health Reviews“COL BACHMANN: Yes. Again, the details of the specific incident in question, we really didn’t get firm assessment at the moment that the astronaut was prepared to fly. He was in the preflight period when either the flight surgeons or a fellow astronaut was concerned enough about the astronaut’s condition, that that was raised to the local leadership. As far as […]

Tragedy in the New Space Race, MSNBC“In comments to The Associated Press, X Prize founder Peter Diamandis took a similar tack. “This was an industrial accident. This has nothing to do with spaceflight,” he was quoted as saying. On a technical level, Diamandis is totally correct: The accident is outside the jurisdiction of the Federal Aviation Administration, and is being handled as an occupational safety matter by Scaled, the Mojave […]

NASA Fact Sheet on the Findings of the Astronaut Health Care System Review Committee“The Next Steps: Some of the findings in the report, including those related to “heavy use of alcohol by astronauts in the immediate preflight period,” will require additional review by NASA. The committee did not provide NASA with specific details of the alleged incidents. As a result, NASA must independently determine the facts of the reported incidents.”NASA […]

24 Jul 2007 Final Memorandum on Marshall Space Flight Centers Approach to Establishing Product Data Management and Mechanical Computer-Aided Design Software Tools as Standard Center-Wide20 Jul 2007 Internal Controls over NASA’s Transit Subsidy Program at Headquarters and Goddard Space Flight Center Needed Improvement18 Jul 2007 NASA Could Improve Controls and Lower the Costs of the Intergovernmental Personnel Act Mobility Program

Editor’s update: I ended up doing 2 Fox and 4 CNN interviews plus several for the BBC and a bunch of newspapers and radio stations. To see one of the CNN interviews (CNN Pipeleine) go here and look for “Astronauts flying Drunk”. Play that. Editor’s update: You can watch the press conference online at NASA TV online here. NASA will likely post the reports here after 1 pm EDT. Meanwhile, […]

3 killed, 3 injured in explosion at rocket test site in Mojave, LA Times“Authorities said the blast occurred about 2:30 p.m. at a remote site on the northeastern fringe of Mojave airport, a small, county-run commercial facility about 95 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. Rutan, looking tired and disheveled, appeared at a 20-minute evening news conference at the desert airport. He told reporters that the blast occurred as the […]