NASA To Begin Drug Testing Astronauts

I packed my bags last night pre-flight
Zero hour nine a.m.
And I'm gonna be high
As a kite by then

- Rocketman lyrics by Bernie Taupin

NASA safety chief Bryan O'Connor has just completed a 45-page internal report on possible astronaut drug or alchohol abuse. According to a report on MSNBC:

O’Connor looked through 40,134 government and contractor reports of mishaps and problems dating back through 1984 — many of them anonymous — and none of them involved alcohol or drug abuse by astronauts.

Something tells me that if their investgation had gone all the way back to the 60's, when The Mecury Seven roamed the Earth, they'd have found a lot of interesting alchohol+astronaut stories. But those days are long gone.

Despite the lack of findings, NASA will be doing drug and alchohol testing in the future. Considering how much is at stake with every flight, it's a reasonable precaution.