In 2007, reports surfaced that some NASA astronauts had flown while intoxicated. Finding a bag of cocaine inside a NASA shuttle hanger doesn't mean it belonged to NASA astronaut, but it's still made NASA initiate an investigation.
Lsst week, a shuttle worker employed by United Space Alliance found a plastic bag with a white powder residue on the floor outside two bathrooms and a janitor's closet, in Orbital Processing Facility 3. The powder was later confirmed to be cocaine.
As a result of the incident, NASA brought in drug-sniffing dogs, but found nothing. Also, about 200 workers who had access to the area were given drug tests.
The shuttle Discovery is being prepared at the facility for a March launch to the International Space Station (ISS). In addition, NASA engineers are double-checking the work on the shuttle.
The amount of cocaine in the bag was small, and was said to be residue. NASA said that if the drug can be tied to anyone, the employee will be handed over to federal prosecutors. Additionally, they will trace the employee's work to be sure no mistakes were made.
If you ever watched the old series "Space: 1999," this is somewhat reminiscent of that corny science fiction show. NASA has planned for some time to slam two spacecraft into the moon in an attempt the find water, and they have released animation of what the "NASA moon bombing," scheduled for Friday, will look like.
The LCROSS lunar impacts will be broadcast live on NASA TV starting at 6:15 AM EDT / 3:15 AM PDT, Oct. 9, on NASA TV and www.nasa.gov/ntv. The 1 and 1/2 hour show will have live footage from spacecraft cameras, as well as real-time telemetry based animation, so viewers will be able to see the live video, in addition to the preview via the NASA Moon Bombing animation.
The NASA Moon Bombing idea has created quite a stir on the Web. Many are calling it a violation of "space law." Others are saying the true intent of the program is to bomb extraterrestrials that we secretly know exist on the moon.
There are those who are also concerned that the impact caused by the so-called NASA moon bombing will be such that the moon will be moved further away from the earth, causing cataclysmic results on the Earth. This is the sort of scenario posited in the aforementioned "Space: 1999" series, when a series of nuclear blasts on the moon pushed the moon out of orbit, to wander aimlessly.
Unfortunately, we were never shown what happened to the Earth. If such an event did happen, however, there would indeed be catastrophic results. So what are the chances that the NASA moon bombing would create a disaster?
The chances of such a disaster are very slim to none. In fact, it's probably the term "NASA moon bombing" that is causing much of the ruckus. NASA says the impact will be no greater than impacts that the moon receives all the time, from space debris.
Either way, the inhabitants of the Earth will find out tomorrow morning, if either extraterrestrials get really upset about NASA's moon bombing and shoot lasers or phasers at us, or if the moon is pushed out of orbit. Neither of those two scenarios are likely, but we will find out soon enough.
