NASA sending drunk astronauts into space?

The Houston Chronicle reported that NASA's astronauts have been heavily drinking on missions. This leads me to believe that the number of crashed in the past may not have been caused by malfunctions in the rockets, but in fact caused by drunk astronauts. All this came from extensive interviews of 14 current astronauts out the the total 93 qualified to fly. Strict measures were never taken prior, alcohol was readily available to astronauts with no rules.

The article mentions that NASA has previously looked the other way when it came to some astronaut's mannerisms before launch. Since NASA's press conference today at 11 A.M, certain restrictions were made to prevent such harmful acts. Astronauts sent into space must not consume alcohol at least 12 hours prior to launch. This will be monitored through strict regulation and test, according to NASA representatives.

At least NASA is going to take action for these intolerable acts. Our tax dollars pay for such missions and the reckless treatment of our tax money should definitely be monitored better not just for us, but for the U.S to develop in terms of space travel and exploration.

Care of Our Future Generation

As stated in the Austin American Statesmen, due to past cuts in money spent on children's health insurance, Texas legislative leaders are now in a quandary as to how much federal money Texas will be allowed to put into a new program that will add 120,000 children to a proposed health insurance plan. The issue is now being pushed and discussed in Washington. The new program will combine state and federal dollars to provide health insurance for children in families that might be considered poor or families that are in poverty but cannot qualify for Medicaid simply because they make too much money to do so. It is good to see the State addressing such topics, especially since Texas was not even spending all of its children's health insurance annual allotment. Insurance is very important for our youth to grow and become healthy adults, and Texas would benefit much from increasing spending on children's insurance.

The question on how much to increase spending was vaguely described in the article. Figures ranged from an additional $35 billion raised from the increased price in cigarettes, or President Bush's more meager proposal of $5 billion. However, the article concludes that no matter the figure, the finally passing of the program may have little effect in overall children's insurance spending if the Texas legislature refuses to input additional resources.