By MARCIA DUNN

As a huge fan of the space program, both as a child watching a man fly to the moon and walk on another planet, as well as now, I am extremely disappointed in this controvery/scandal. My heart sinks in shame, knowing that one of my group of heroes is now embattled in controvery. Is nothing sacred to our country anymore? - JS

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - After drinking heavily, an astronaut flew on a Russian spacecraft and another was cleared to launch on a space shuttle, according to interviews by a panel of outside experts, the panel’s chairman said Friday.

In the case of the shuttle, the mission was delayed for mechanical reasons and the astronaut wanted to fly a jet from Florida back home to Houston, said Col. Richard Bachmann Jr., head of the panel, created to assess astronaut health. He said he didn’t know the outcome.

“In none of these can we say factually they did or did not occur,” he added, speaking by telephone to a news conference held in Washington. He said it was not the panel’s mission to investigate allegations and that NASA would have to ferret out details.

The independent panel was created by NASA after the arrest of astronaut Lisa Nowak in February on charges she tried to kidnap her rival in a love triangle.

NASA said it is unaware of any astronauts who were drunk before a flight but that it is investigating. Deputy Administrator Shana Dale said the panel provided no details and did not verify the troubling revelations and promised the space agency would pursue the truth.

Bachmann, an aerospace medical specialist with the Air Force, said his panel deliberately did not seek out pertinent details, such as exactly when the heavy drinking occurred. The overriding concern, he said, was that flight surgeons were ignored.

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