NASA Finds Cocaine at Shuttle Facility

Staffers undergo drug tests, and Discovery is being re-checked
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 14, 2010 4:41 PM CST
NASA Finds Cocaine at Shuttle Facility
Space shuttle Discovery, mounted atop a modified Boeing 747 shuttle carrier, returns to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Monday, Sept. 21, 2009.   (AP Photo/John Raoux)

NASA is investigating 200 staffers and rechecking shuttle equipment after finding cocaine at a Florida facility charged with servicing the shuttle Discovery. The agency drug-tested each of the employees after finding drug residue in a plastic bag, but it hasn't released results. NASA will double-check Discovery's systems to make sure a drug-addled worker did not make a compromising error.

"It wasn’t obvious somebody was under the influence of this substance, or any other, for that matter," says a Kennedy Space Center spokesman. "But to confirm the hardware and equipment on Discovery is OK so it can fly in March, is what we’re doing now.” NASA has a zero-tolerance policy on drugs. "They will find out who did this, and they will be out the door,” Sen. Bill Nelson tells Central Florida News. (More cocaine stories.)

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