Friends don't let friends rocket drunk

Amazing. Not once, but twice, astronauts with high blood alcohol levels were allowed to fly.

Apparently twice in the past, shuttle astronauts were permitted to fly, even though they had levels of alcohol in their system so high they posed a risk to the shuttle mission. What?!

Aviation Week is reporting that an independent 8-person panel was convened to study astronaut health after the arrest of former astronaut Lisa Nowak (I'm sure you remember this little incident). As part of their research, the panelists interviewed shuttle flight surgeons, and these details came to light. NASA is keeping the revelations, tight-lipped, but they have a press conference on Friday to discuss it further.