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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Space shuttle astronaut arrested at OIA on attempted kidnapping, battery charges

A NASA astronaut is being held without bail after police say she attacked her rival for another astronaut's attention at Orlando International Airport Monday.

Lisa Marie Nowak drove more than 12 hours from Texas to meet the 1 a.m. flight of a younger woman who had also been seeing the astronaut Nowak pined for, according to Orlando police.

Nowak -- who was a mission specialist on a Discovery launch last summer -- was wearing a trench coat and wig and had a knife, BB pistol, and latex gloves in her car, reports show. They also found diapers, which Nowak said she used so she wouldn't have to stop on the 1,000-mile drive. Reports show that after U.S. Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman's flight arrived, Nowak followed her to the airport's Blue Lot for long-term parking, tried to get into Shipman's car and then doused her with pepper spray.

Nowak, 43, is charged with attempted kidnapping, battery, attempted vehicle burglary with battery and destruction of evidence. Police considered her such a danger that they requested she be held without bail in the Orange County Jail, reports show.

A married mother of three, Nowak told police that she was "involved in a relationship with," Bill Oefelein, another NASA astronaut, which she categorized as "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to the charging affidavit.

Oefelein, who piloted the most recent shuttle Discovery flight in December, could not be reached Monday night at home in Houston.

She found out Oefelein was involved with Shipman and planned a trip to Orlando to talk to Shipman about their relationships with Oefelein, reports show. She also told police the BB gun "was going to be used to entice Ms. Shipman to talk with her."

Shipman, an engineer assigned to the 45th Launch Support Squadron at Patrick Air Force base near the Kennedy Space Center, told police she was flying home from Houston. She could not be reached for comment Monday night at her home near Port Canaveral.

Shipman told police that after waiting two hours to get her luggage, she noticed a woman in a trench coat waiting near the airport taxi stand. When Shipman boarded a shuttle bus to long-term parking, the woman followed, according to police.

When Shipman got into her car in the Blue lot on Cargo Road, reports show, she heard "running footsteps" coming toward her. Nowak tried to open the car door, then claimed she needed a ride, or use of a cell phone.

"No. If you need help, I'll send someone to help you," Shipman responded, reports show.

Nowak claimed she could not hear and started to cry.

"Ms. Shipman rolled her window down about 2 inches, so Mrs. Nowak could hear her... Mrs. Nowak sprayed some type of chemical spray into the vehicle, at Ms. Shipman's face," a detective wrote.

Shipman sped away to the parking lot's toll booth, where she asked a parking employee to call police.

The first officer to reach the Blue lot, saw the suspect drop something black into a trash can at one of the parking shuttle stops. Within minutes, Shipman identified Nowak as her attacker.

A steel mallet, several feet of rubber tubing and hand-written directions to Shipman's home were recovered from Nowak's car, which was parked at a nearby LaQuinta Inn, reports show.

Picked up shortly before 4 a.m., Nowak was questioned until about 5 p.m. when police took her to the county jail.

Her arrest may be the first-ever felony charges filed on an active-duty astronaut, according to the space agency.

"Her status as an astronaut with NASA is currently unchanged. I cannot speculate on what might happen beyond that," said James Hartsfield, a NASA spokesman at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where Nowak and Oefelein work.

Source www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/orl-bk-nasaastronaut0507feb05,0,6104316.story?coll=orl-home-headlines

or

tinyurl.com/2qgdwn

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Take some Tang and go lie down.

Wacky Astronaut!...

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

The more I learn of this, the more I shake my head and just smile.

Wearing an adult diaper so she didn't have to make bathroom stops in her 900 mile trip of jealousy.

I wonder what she would have done onboard the Shuttle!...

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

If they made a movie on this crazy chic, I have some ideas on titles:

AstroNut

SpaceNut

SpaceLoad

AstroGlide


Will she be found guilty? Depends!

[starbux]

admin said:

The more I learn of this, the more I shake my head and just smile.

Wearing an adult diaper so she didn't have to make bathroom stops in her 900 mile trip of jealousy.

I wonder what she would have done onboard the Shuttle!...

Wear diapers. That is apparently an astronaut tradition from the old days. And procedure for lift-off and spacewalks to this day.

This story is proof that the space program has "matured", like exotic cheese. You didn't hear about this stuff during the space race/cold war.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

I read a book awhile back called "MoonWalkers". The story about the lives of the astronauts after they returned back to Earth from walking on the Moon. Most of them failed to return back to normal life, after all, what else is there after stepping foot on the Moon.

All but one had divorces, substance abuse, business failures, anti-social behavior and so forth. But we don't read about attempted kidnappings, murder plots or other criminal type mentalities. If they did do such things, it was well kept away from the media.

They were a different breed of space explorer. And granted that the Shuttle program has removed much of the "Explorer" element from the missions. The near Earth space truck just doesnt cut it.

I think this astronaut, who achieved much in her military and NASA career, suffered from some mental breakdown and lost rational thinking. Better it happened on terra firma than 90 miles high overhead. I understand that the male astronaut she was enamored with has taked a leave of absence from the program. Screwed up his life too.

Happens to the best of us...

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

NASA has guidelines for mental breakdowns

Checklist advises fellow astronauts to restrain flier, administer tranquilizers

The procedures have been in effect for at least six years, but the space agency did not develop any protocols for dealing with astronauts who become unstable while on the ground.

NASA said Friday that it has never had to take the drastic actions outlined in the procedures in 46 years of human space flight.

"If there had been anything like this, you would have heard about it," said James Hartsfield, a NASA spokesman. "Our policy is that anything that impacts a mission, any medical matter that impacts a mission, we make it public knowledge."

The lengthy checklist, which NASA posts on a Web site available to the public:

www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/163533main_ISS_Med_CL.pdf

It includes responses for a wide range of potential medical emergencies, including severe chest pain, choking, burns, broken bones and severe allergic reactions.

"We try to predict every possible circumstance that could affect a mechanical system or a medical problem. We try to prepare," Hartsfield said. "The checklists deal with anything that a crew emergency might have to deal with, from injuries and illness to systems on board the station."

In response to a psychological emergency, the procedure calls on the colleagues of a stricken astronaut to confer with a flight surgeon in Mission Control as quickly as possible. However, the procedures grant the astronauts authority to restrain and provide medication immediately if the spacecraft is not in communication with the Earth.

The response plan calls for other crew members to speak with the troubled astronaut and attempt to explain that the restraints are being applied as a safety precaution.

According to the checklist, another crewmember with medical training should remain with the stricken astronaut to monitor pulse rates while deliberations with Mission Control are under way.

Full story here: www.dailyastronomy.com/story.asp?ID=171133&Title=NASA%20has%20guidelines%20for%20mental%20breakdowns

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

"First urge will be to rip your clothes off,"

Love notes shed light on astronaut assault case

A love note e-mailed to an orbiting space shuttle was one of the ways NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak learned she had a rival for astronaut Bill Oefelein's affections.

Considered unemotional and shy, Nowak collected that e-mail and a dozen others showing her boyfriend had a new lover before she went on a bizarre, 969-mile odyssey last month to confront the woman in a parking lot at Orlando International Airport, according to documents released Monday.

"First urge will be to rip your clothes off," reads one of the notes from Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman to Oefelein while he was aboard shuttle Discovery in December. "But honestly, love, I want you to totally and thoroughly enjoy your hero's homecoming."

The messages and other documents were released late Monday by the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office, which on Friday charged Nowak with attempted kidnapping and burglary with assault, which could put her in prison for life.

The nature of Nowak's relationship with Oefelein had been uncertain since her arrest. She told detectives at the time it was "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship." However, Oefelein told investigators they had been romantically involved since 2004, a year before he divorced and while Nowak was having marital problems.

Shipman, 30, told police Nowak, 43, followed her to an airport parking lot where she attacked her with pepper spray. A wig, a trench coat, a knife, a BB pistol and a steel mallet were seized from Nowak, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a former test pilot.

Source: www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom/space/orl-bk-nowak-020607,0,2368578.story?coll=orl-home-headlines

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Sometimes the heart overrules the head in logic.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

NASA fires astronaut Nowak

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- U.S. Navy Capt. Lisa Nowak's detail as a NASA astronaut will be terminated, effective Thursday, NASA and the U.S. Navy said Wednesday in a written statement issued jointly.

NASA spokesman James Hartsfield said that while it wasn't unusual for astronauts to leave the astronaut corps and return to the military, it was the first time the space agency had requested that the military terminate an assignment.

Hartsfield said Nowak was informed about the request for termination on February 24 by chief astronaut Steve Reynolds but that processing the request took until this week.

Nowak, 43, is charged with attempted kidnapping for allegedly confronting her former boyfriend's new love-interest in a parking lot at Florida's Orlando International Airport on February 5.

In addition to attempted kidnapping, Nowak was charged with battery and burglary of a vehicle with a weapon.

She is scheduled to be arraigned March 22, but has already entered a not guilty plea.

Nowak's attorney said the charges overstate her conduct. The public relations company hired by her attorney, Don Lykkebak, had no comment on Wednesday.

Navy Cmdr. Bill Oefelein told investigators he and Nowak had been involved in a sexual relationship that he ended in January 2007, two months after meeting Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman.

He said Nowak "appeared to take the news well."

Source: www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/03/07/nasa.nowak/index.html

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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Lisa Nowak Had Bondage Pictures in Car

According to USA Today, when the Orlando polics searched Lisa Nowak's car, they discovered a computer disk containing bondage photos, British currency and pills. This information came from some documents released by a judge last week.

The documents did not make clear whether Nowak was in any of the pictures or who owned the disk. Testing is underway to learn what kind of pills were found.

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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Astronauts say Nowak was smart but selfish

That glimpse into the astronaut's life was found in hundreds of pages of documents that include summaries of interviews with four astronauts following Nowak's arrest in February on charges of attempted kidnapping, burglary with assault and battery.

They said she refused to give out her cell phone number to her fellow astronauts on last July's space shuttle mission to the international space station and was noticeably upset when a colleague was chosen over her in December to go on a future shuttle mission.

NASA rules don't prohibit relationships between astronauts, but Nowak and Oefelein kept the affair secret. Nowak was married and had three children, while Oefelein, who has two children, divorced his wife in 2005.

Astronaut Mike Fossum, who flew with Nowak aboard space shuttle Discovery last July, told investigators that over the years he grew to suspect that Nowak and Oefelein were having an affair.

Fossum once saw Oefelein and Nowak fly to Key West together on a training jet after Nowak had apparently lied to another crew member about where she was going.

Fossum also saw Nowak and Oefelein in the hallway of crew quarters at Kennedy Space Center before Discovery's flight last July. "Fossum stated that this was odd because very few individuals other than crew members had reason to be in the area," the investigative summary said.

The relationship didn't affect their work, Fossum said, so he never mentioned anything to anyone.

Astronaut Mark Kelly, who was the pilot on Nowak's flight to the space station, said he was unaware of Nowak's relationship with Oefelein. He described Nowak as smart and well-prepared but told investigators he didn't like her.

"She was not a good team player, and he learned in space that she exhibited bad expedition behavior because she was selfish," the investigative summary said.

Source: www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/space/4765509.html

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