The space agency has reportedly decided to review workplace culture at SpaceX and Boeing after Elon Musk smoked marijuana on a podcast.The story of nasa’s efforts to restore the country’s ability to launch American astronauts into space from U.S. soil has just gained a rather interesting new chapter.
nasa has decided to conduct reviews of SpaceX and Boeing, the two companies the agency hired to develop astronaut-transportation systems that would allow the United States to fly crewed missions from its own launchpads for the first time since the space shuttle was retired in 2011.
The reviews, scheduled to begin next year, will assess not the companies’ technical development or their progress, but rather their workplace safety culture. Why? Reportedly, because SpaceX CEO Elon Musk smoked some weed and drank whiskey on a podcast two months ago.
The Washington Post, which first reported the upcoming assessments on Tuesday, said Musk’s behavior on the show, The Joe Rogan Experience, “rankled some at nasa’s highest levels and prompted the agency to take a close look at the culture of the companies.”
nasa declined to say whether Musk’s appearance on the show indeed prompted the reviews, but statements from the involved parties to The Atlantic strongly suggest it played some part.
In a statement, nasa said, “[The agency] 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.”
For its part, SpaceX said it “actively promotes workplace safety and we are confident that our comprehensive drug-free workforce and workplace programs exceed all applicable contractual requirements.”
And Boeing, which is probably wondering what on earth it has to do with this, said it “does maintain a drug- and alcohol-free workplace program. We do this so that we can promote a safe, healthy, and productive work environment, and that program does meet nasa’s and the Department of Defense’s contractor requirements.” (A Boeing spokesperson said nasa did not give a reason for the review and has not provided many details on the process.)
The first test flights with astronauts—which have already been selected—are scheduled for summer 2019 at the earliest. The new review could delay the effort, which has already been set back by technical problems and overly optimistic schedules. According to The Post, the review will be a “months-long assessment that would involve hundreds of interviews designed to assess the culture of the workplaces.”
The Rogan podcast was recorded in California, where recreational use of marijuana is legal. But the federal government still considers marijuana a controlled substance, like heroin and cocaine. And nasa’s contracts with SpaceX and Boeing for the commercial crew program require both contractors to “maintain a program for achieving a drug-and alcohol-free workforce” and conduct “preemployment, reasonable suspicion, random, post-accident, and periodic recurring testing of contractor employees in sensitive positions for use, in violation of applicable law or federal regulation, of alcohol or a controlled substance.”
| Scuttlebutt on Reddit suggests it is due to pressure from 6 Congressmen who hate the concept of manned commercial spacecraft. That's why Boeing is included. They complained about booze too referring to a Photo of Musk drinking wine and some top execs at Boeing having champagne. |