Unstable Astronaut

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...home-headlines

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. She is being held on no
bond at Orange County Jail and has a court appearance at 9 a.m.

Nowak -- who was a mission specialist on a Space Shuttle Discovery
flight 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 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."

....

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.

....

Nowak's biography shows she is a 1985 graduate of the U.S. Naval
Academy at Annapolis with a degree in aerospace engineering, and a
former test pilot who has logged more than 1,500 hours of flight in at
least 30 types of aircraft. She joined the space program in 1996.

....