Elon Musk's Extracurricular Antics Reportedly Spark a NASA Safety Probe At SpaceX (techcrunch.com)

The recent interview Elon Musk conducted with Joe Rogan, where Musk took one puff from a marijuana cigarette after a lengthy conversation around AI, social media and space, is prompting a NASA safety probe at SpaceX. The Washington Post reports that NASA was not amused with Musk's antics and has "ordered a safety review of SpaceX and Boeing as a response to the colorful chief executive's shenanigans," reports TechCrunch. From the report: In an interview, NASA associate administrator for human exploration, William Gerstenmaier, told the Post that the review will begin next year and would examine the "safety culture" of both Boeing and SpaceX. Rather than focus on the safety of the actual rockets, the Post said that the review would look at the hours employees work, drug policies, leadership and management styles, and the responsiveness of both companies to safety concerns from employees. The review is going to be led by the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance within NASA, which has conducted similar probes before, according to the Post report.

According to the NASA official, the process could be "pretty invasive," with the potential for hundreds of interviews with employees at every level and across all locations where the companies operate. At stake is the potential $6.8 billion in contracts the two companies received in 2014 to revive crewed missions to space. SpaceX grabbed $2.6 billion from NASA for the program, while the remainder went to Boeing. In a statement given to the Post, SpaceX said, "We couldn't be more proud of all that we have already accomplished together with NASA, and we look forward to returning human spaceflight capabilities to the United States."

Comments

Re: They take it seriously

[MrKaos]

If he smoked in a legal state and in a legal manner he was behaving.

Some states have legalized pot, but selling, using, and possession are still federal offenses.

The Federal government has several very public incidences of where it has broken *it's own* laws. Enough of the population use Cannabis to suggest that Federal law on this subject is about as antiquated as alcohol prohibition, it's beyond time to end it in all western countries.

Musk is a CEO, not a high school student. He needs to grow up.

I think that the real issue is that Musk has quite effectively shown that people's attitude towards cannabis needs to mature. So if we are going to have a grown up conversation it is reasonable to point out that both Tobacco and alcohol kill you (eventually) when used as directed.

Not that I mind a beer, however that should be the attitude towards Cannabis. No one ever gets into a tizzy about someone having a beer, you can even drive after one or two.

If we were having a really grown-up conversation we would be discussing how the prison guard union lobbies against ending its prohibition because it allows prison populations to be sustained so that they stay in work. Same with the Prison companies who want a cheap controllable work force constantly available.

Alcohol lobbyists are against ending cannabis prohibition because sales will go down, obviously, once people find out they can get wasted without having a hangover.

Rayon corporation are against ending cannabis prohibition because sales of artificial thread will go down.

There's more, these are the lobby points I remember off hand.

However the best one, if anyone remembers Citizen Kane, is a story loosely based on William Randolph Hearst who worked very hard to criminalize cannabis so that he would not have to bare the costs of replacing his printing presses around the US when paper manufacturers found that paper made from cannabis was cheaper to make and a better product than wood pulp paper. IIRC it also requires less chlorine to produce hemp paper, so perhaps a grown-up conversation about cannabis could include the damage to the environment its prohibition has indirectly caused.

In a way Musk has subtly shown that he isn't "that guy".