OK. It’s now officially a Very Weird News Day: NASA reports sabotage of flight computer.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A space program worker deliberately damaged a computer that is supposed to fly aboard shuttle Endeavour in less than two weeks, an act of sabotage that was caught before the equipment was loaded onto the spaceship, NASA said Thursday.

The Houston Chronicle says the computer does not play a role in protecting astronauts or the space station.

(Hat tip: LGF readers.)

UPDATE at 7/26/07 3:42:24 pm:

And it’s getting weirder. Report: Astronauts drank before launch.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At least twice, astronauts were allowed to fly after flight surgeons and other astronauts warned they were so drunk they posed a flight-safety risk, an aviation weekly reported Thursday, citing a special panel studying astronaut health.

The independent panel also found “heavy use of alcohol” before launch that was within the standard 12-hour “bottle-to-throttle” rule, according to Aviation Week & Space Technology, which reported the finding on its Web site.

A NASA official confirmed that the health report contains claims of alcohol use by astronauts before launch, but said the information is based on anonymous interviews and is unsubstantiated. The official didn’t want to be named because NASA plans a news conference Friday to discuss the panel’s findings.