NASA has announced an investigation into the culture of SpaceX after a video of Elon Musk smoking a blunt with Joe Rogan went viral, The Washington Post reports.
Three officials with knowledge of the issue told The Washington Post the incident was related to Musk’s appearance on Rogan’s podcast, which was live-streamed on YouTube and featured the business mogul take one hit off a blunt and have several sips of whiskey.
“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.” — NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, in a statement
The review will begin next year and will investigate SpaceX and Boeing, both companies that NASA relies on to fly their astronauts.
NASA will examine “everything and anything that could impact safety,” said William Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for human exploration.
SpaceX — which was founded by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space travel costs and enabling the human colonization of Mars — released a statement saying it, “actively promotes workplace safety, and we are confident that our comprehensive drug-free workforce and workplace programs exceed all applicable contractual requirements.”