NASA wants to review SpaceX and Boeing
This past September, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk smoked marijuana during an interview. The incident quickly made its rounds on social media and the news and had a slight impact on Musk’s reputation. Now, NASA has said that it will need to conduct workplace safety reviews of two commercial partners because of Musk’s actions.
The space agency is going to investigate both SpaceX and Boeing. The two companies are involved in a project to build spacecraft that can shuttle astronauts to the International Space Station. NASA indicates that the inspections may take months and will require hundreds of interviews. No information was provided on whether or not the activity will lead to a delay of any of the launches scheduled for next year.
According to a NASA spokesperson, “NASA will be conducting a cultural assessment study in coordination with our commercial partners to ensure the companies are meeting NASA’s requirements for workplace safety, including the adherence to a drug-free environment. We fully expect our commercial partners to meet all workplace safety requirements in the execution of our missions and the services they provide the American people. As always, NASA will ensure they do so.”
Jim Bridenstine, NASA’s administrator, added that the inspections will help ensure that astronauts are kept safe. He explained to The Washington Post, “If I see something that’s inappropriate, the key concern to me is what is the culture that led to that inappropriateness and is NASA involved in that. As an agency, we’re not just leading ourselves, but our contractors as well. We need to show the American public that when we put an astronaut on a rocket, they’ll be safe.”
