NASA Love Triangle

[Jacqueline]

NASA 'love triangle' saga dominating the news

 The story causing the most talk this morning on radio shows and the cable news networks has to be that of NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak, 43, who was arrested early Monday in Orlando after allegedly attacking and attempting to kidnap a woman who she thought was involved with the object of her affection -- another astronaut.

Nowak was just in a Florida court for a hearing. A judge ordered her to have no contact with the other parties if she is freed on bond. He set the bond at $15,000.

There is a copy of the Orlando police report here. It describes in detail what the victim told police, and reports that Nowak told an officer that she dispensed pepper spray into the woman's car. "That was stupid," Nowak said to the officer, according to the police report.

Our Gannett colleagues at Florida Today have much more on the case.

Our USA TODAY colleague Traci Watson is also working the story.

Watson notes that last year, Nowak flew on the second shuttle mission after the Columbia accident. The assignment was high-profile and prestigious, says Watson, since it was a test flight to study safety improvements made after the accident. She'd been training to fly on a mission several years later, but NASA decided to fly her on the test flight.


Police said Nowak drove 900 miles to be at the Orlando airport when the other woman was due to arrive there. Nowak allegedly donned a disguise and was armed with a BB gun and pepper spray when she confronted the woman, whom she believed was a competitor for the affections of Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein.

Nowak and Oefelein, 41, were both first-time fliers during separate shuttle missions last year. They trained together but never flew together. Both are married. Nowak has three children.

One detail that is getting repeated a lot: That Nowak wore a diaper while traveling, so that she wouldn't have to stop on the way. As AP notes, she would know what that is like: Astronauts wear diapers during launch and re-entry.

Update at 10:30 a.m. ET. Watson passes a long a detail that is ironic in hindsight:


During Nowak's shuttle mission, her family dedicated a song to her and it was used to wake the astronauts up one day.


The tune: All Star, by the band Smash Mouth.


(Photo from Orange County Sheriff's Department via AP.)

Posted by Mark Memmott at 10:04 AM/ET, February 06, 2007 in Crime | Permalink
Comments
Nno NASA policy on fraternization

[Sam]

This is so sad for these 2 womens families. I also would think it is embarrassing to the male that  Nowalk was persuing.

[pdh3]

I feel sad for the chidren and husband of Lisa Nowak, and for her victim. But the love triangle thing doesn't surprise me at all. The Marshall Space Flight Center has affairs and stuff going on all the time. These people spend more time with their co-workers than they do their families, so I can see how an attachment would develop.
I guess there won't be any more shuttle flights for this astronaunt.

[Jacqueline]

What happened to this woman?
Driving non stop in diapers so she would not have to make any stops.

     
A care package of a steel mallet, fold out knife, mace and or pepper spray....

Showing up in a trenchcoat and wig...

Truth is stranger than fiction....

She obviously was out for more than just a chit chat with her romantic rival....

Sickening.

[Jacqueline]

Astronaut posts bail after being charged with attempted first-degree murder  
   

Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein.
 
 By Traci Watson, USA TODAY
ORLANDO — Astronaut Lisa Nowak was charged Tuesday with the attempted murder of an Air Force engineer who Nowak purportedly believed to be her rival for the affections of a male astronaut. She posted $25,000 bail and was released from jail.
It was the first time NASA officials could recall that an active astronaut has faced a felony charge.

Nowak, 43, also is charged with attempted kidnapping, attempted burglary of a vehicle and battery for alleged incidents on Sunday and Monday.

Nowak had posted bail on the lesser charges Tuesday morning when the Orlando authorities added the attempted first-degree murder charge. At a second hearing this afternoon, the judge added another $10,000 in bail, over the objections of prosecutors who wanted Nowak kept in jail. She posted bail and was released with a monitoring device.

According to an affidavit released by the Orlando police department, Nowak drove more than 900 miles from Houston, where she lives and works, to the Orlando airport and confronted Colleen Shipman early Monday.

Nowak was wearing diapers to avoid having to stop during the drive, according to Orlando police records. She suspected Shipman was romantically involved with astronaut William Oefelein, police said.

Nowak is married to a NASA engineer who works on the International Space Station. They have a son in high school and younger twin girls. NASA declined to reveal whether Oefelein, 41, who has two children, is married.

Wearing a wig and trench coat, the affidavit said, Nowak followed Shipman from the airport terminal to Shipman's parking place. After Nowak pounded on Shipman's car window, Shipman rolled it down a few inches and Nowak blasted her with chemical spray, police records said. Shipman drove away and called police.

Police said that when they arrived, they saw Nowak discarding a garbage bag. Inside, they said, were a BB pistol, a steel mallet, a new folding knife with a four-inch blade, several feet of rubber tubing and several plastic garbage bags.

In Nowak's car, parked at a hotel several miles away, police found six latex gloves, e-mails from Shipman to Oefelein, a love letter from Nowak to Oefelein and handwritten directions to the Orlando airport and Shipman's house 30 miles from Orlando.

They also found diapers. Astronauts are accustomed to wearing diapers for the long countdown before launching in the space shuttle and also for spacewalks.

Nowak told police that her relationship with Oefelein was "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to records.

The attempted murder charge was a surprise.

Originally, Nowak was charged only with battery, attempted kidnapping and attempted burglary of a vehicle. On Tuesday morning, a judge considering only those charges set bail for Nowak and said she would have to wear a monitoring device to ensure she didn't approach Shipman's home or her workplace, Patrick Air Force Base.

The base is close to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, where the shuttles are housed and launched. All astronauts spend significant amounts of time at Kennedy, especially during the prepartions for a mission. Oefelein's first space mission was in December.

Nowak flew her first mission into space in July, serving as a mission specialist. She is considered an expert shuttle robot arm operator, and logged 13 days in space during a mission that launched on the Fourth of July.

A U.S. Navy captain, Nowak was selected to NASA's astronaut corps in 1996 after serving as a military test pilot. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Nowak has logged more than 1,500 hours in 30 aircraft.

Tuesday's court appearance is a tragic turn for a woman who only a few months ago couldn't quit smiling while she was in orbit.

Nowak was sick at first, as many astronauts are during the first few days after liftoff. While in orbit, she said in a televised press conference that she was confused by the corridors of the space station, where her shuttle parked for a week, and she found her job of operating the robotic arms on the shuttle and station more difficult than her training had led her to believe.

But Nowak overcame her nausea and confusion. As she described what space was like, she beamed with joy.

"It was definitely a long wait, and it was definitely worth it," said Nowak, who waited nearly 10 years from the time she joined NASA to take her first flight. "This is the trip of a lifetime. …It's thrilling to be up here."

Oefelein piloted Discovery on a 13-day International Space Station assembly flight in December. From window perches inside the shuttle and the station, he orchestrated four spacewalks during one of the most complex outpost construction missions to date. Nicknamed "Billy O," Oefelein, a U.S. Navy commander, came to NASA in 1998.

Since Nowak and Oefelein are active-duty Naval officers, they may face military charges from the incident.

The Navy will most likely wait for civilian criminal courts to handle Nowak's case before considering disciplinary action against her, said Lt. Ligia Cohen, a Navy spokeswoman at the Pentagon. Military code for officers forbids fraternization.

Eugene Fidell, president of National Institute of Military Justice, said Nowak could also be court-martialed on the attempted murder, attempted kidnapping and other charges.

In Nowak's court appearance Tuesday, she looked up only to answer the judge's questions in a strangled voice. Nowak responded "yes" when asked if she understood that she was to have no contact with Shipman.

Also appearing in court was Nowak's boss, Steve Lindsey, the chief of the astronaut office. Lindsey was also the commander of Nowak's shuttle mission, a high-profile flight that tested safety improvements made after the 2003 disintegration of shuttle Columbia.

Lindsey told the judge that it would not be a problem to keep Nowak away from Florida. Outside the courtroom, he said his primary concern was for the well-being of his former crewmember, whose work on the shuttle mission he'd praised as "masterful to watch."

"This is a private, personal matter, it's a legal matter, that she and her family have to deal with," Lindsey said. "We're done here supporting her. … We're a close family, and we try to take care of our own."

Several people who knew Nowak said they were baffled by the allegations. They described her as a sweet, happy person who did not seem capable of the dark actions that she's accused of.

"I'm absolutely shocked," said former astronaut John Herrington, who came to NASA in the same astronaut class as Nowak and left the agency about 18 months ago. "Whatever transpired (between Nowak and Oefelein), it was not something I noticed," he said.

Nowak and her husband hosted Easter dinners at their house and tried to include everyone, he recalled.

"She is a wondeful person. She is a very nurturing person," said former NASA flight surgeon Jonathan Clark, whose wife Laurel was also in Nowak's class. The women were friendly, sharing a Naval career and a love of gardening and flowers.

After Laurel Clark died in the Columbia accident in 2003, Nowak helped Jonathan Clark sort out the paperwork from the Navy and also cared for the Clarks' son Iian.

"Sometimes bad things happen to good people, and that's certainly the case here."

Clark, who has voiced criticism of NASA since his wife's death, says the agency has turned a blind eye to both astronauts' mental troubles and their extramarital affairs.

"Now you see this is the consequence of not dealing with it — you have someone whose life is destroyed," he said. "Maybe they'll start dealing with it."

For now, NASA has put Nowak on a 30-day leave and removed her from mission duties.

"In (Nowak's) case we still have to find out what happened here," said NASA spokesman Doug Peterson. "It's a very serious charge. To say at this point (whether she'll fly in space again) would be speculation."

Peterson declined to say whether Oefelein's chances of flying in space will be lessened by what happened. Because Oefelein served as a pilot on the December mission, he might be in line to serve as the commander of a shuttle flight, a highly coveted position.

Peterson said it's also too early to know whether NASA's process for choosing astronauts would be affected by Nowak's situation. Astronaut selection is highly rigorous. Very few applicants make it into the astronaut corps, and most people have to apply two or three times before being accepted. The screening process includes a written psychological test and a session with mental-health specialists.

"History shows our selection process has worked very well through the years," Peterson said. "However this turns out, it's probably an aberration from anything we've ever seen."

Yet it is not unheard of for astronauts to suffer from psychological complaints, says Clark, a former flight surgeon. Astronaut John Blaha suffered from depression during a stay on the Russian space station Mir in the 1990s, and astronaut Charles Brady committed suicide in July.Less seriously, many astronauts develop a mild case of the blues after returning from orbit. They spend years preparing for a 11- to 14-day shuttle mission. Once it's over, there is an inevitable letdown from the intense training and the adrenaline of the flight, says Herrington.

"You work so hard, the flight is over so quickly," he says. Everyone wonders whether he or she will fly again and how soon, he says.

Contributing: Florida Today, Andrea Stone, Tom Vanden Brook

Posted 2/5/2007 10:09 PM ET  
Updated 2/6/2007 9:29 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions | Subscribe to stories like this  
 
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[Angiex911dsptchr]

Nutty story indeed  Jacque..

[LouiseVargas]

Thank you all for this information.

I have never seen such a strange case in my whole life. I heard the court case today and she has a top notch lawyer with a lot of gravitas.

The big question is "what happened between the time she took all the vast physical and mental tests" to qualify for the very small percentage of people who become astronauts and go into space until such time as she got sick. She was the expert on operating the robotic arms on the shuttle.

Regarding the launch and time in space, Nowak was sick at first, as many astronauts are during the first few days after lift off. While in orbit, she said in a televised press conference that she was confused by the corridors of the space station, where her shuttle parked for a week, and she found her job of operating the robotic arms on the shuttle and station more difficult than her training had led her to believe.  

What, why and how did their psychological testing miss her psychological problems?  

Well, she landed on earth and was debriefed. Now her psyche is off. It's been said she was on drugs.

One of the things in the world that makes me angrier than hell is to see people with mental illness who are not diagnosed early enough.  Also, there are not enough tests to really know what's in a person's mind.

[Jacqueline]

I saw an interview with an astronaut who actually knew this woman and was in the same 1996 Nasa class with her.

He said that when you come down from space there are plenty of physical tests you go thru but he doesn't feel that you get tested very well for how this trip may have affected your mind and emotions.

People who knew this woman say she was the sweetest and most kind and bright person they ever met which makes this all the more shocking.

If her intent was to indeed kill this other woman at least tragedy was averted and she did not get to carry out her deed.

News interview also stated that she had recently broken up with her husband of 19 years.

This whole story is very sad for everyone involved.

[Jacqueline]

Statement from family of Lisa Nowak
Originally published February 6, 2007
The family of Lisa Nowak released this statement today:

The family will not be granting interviews at this time, but does want to issue the following statement in response to numerous media requests.


 
 
We are naturally saddened and extremely concerned about the serious allegations being made against Lisa. We love her very much, and right now, our primary focus is on her health and well-being.

Lisa is a very intelligent, accomplished individual. As a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, and in her professional career in the Navy and NASA's Space Shuttle program, she has served over 20 years with an unblemished record. Lisa attained the rank of Captain, and flew as a Mission Specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in July 2006.

Personally, Lisa is an extremely caring and dedicated mother to her three children. She has been married for 19 years, although she and her husband had separated a few weeks ago.

Considering both her personal and professional life, these alleged events are completely out of character and have come as a tremendous shock to our family.

We are anxious to allow the facts to develop so that we can better understand what happened, and why. We hope that the public will keep an open mind about what the facts will eventually show and that the legal system will be allowed to run its course.

Finally, we are very grateful for the expressions of love and support that we have received from family and friends, and we ask for your continued thoughts and prayers for our family.

[/b]

[Jacqueline]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/orl-astprofile0707feb07,1,4129098.story?coll=chi-news-hed

This is informative.
Also gives profiles and pics of all three....

[Jacqueline]

Profile of Capt. Colleen Shipman

Laurin Sellers
Sentinel Staff Writer
Published February 7, 2007


CAPE CANAVERAL -- Neighbors affectionately call her "the little general" because she is so petite.

But on Tuesday, U.S. Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman, 30, was nowhere to be found as reporters descended on her usually tranquil neighborhood, setting up camp outside her tan-and-white townhouse.



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Graphic: How the incident unfolded
February 7, 2007

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Psychologists: Nowak possibly driven to extremes by love, jealousy

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DOCUMENTS: Arrest reports, restraining order and more about the astronaut case

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Profile of NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak


Profile of NASA astronaut William A. Oefelein
February 6, 2007

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 2005 NASA interview with Nowak
 NASA coverage of Nowak's Discovery flight


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"She's not coming home," one resident yelled to the dozen or so news media. "Not to all this."

So it was the neighbors who found themselves thrust into the limelight, fielding questions about Shipman, her astronaut boyfriend and the female astronaut accused of trying to kill her.

"It is just so bizarre," said Babette Merchant, 45, who has known Shipman for the past two years. "She is one of the sweetest people I have ever known, and she certainly didn't deserve any of this."

Lisa Marie Nowak, 43, a mission specialist on NASA's second post-Columbia shuttle flight in July, is facing charges of attempted murder. According to police, Nowak drove from Houston to Orlando to confront Shipman about her relationship with space-shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein.

Majeau and other residents of the Madison Cay complex said Shipman had talked of dating Oefelein, but that they had never heard her speak of Nowak.

"She was really proud of it," Bill Bailey said of Shipman's romance with the astronaut. "She was jumping for joy after his mission when he came back home safely. She didn't talk a lot about him, but we all knew."

All three residents said Shipman, an engineer who is stationed at Patrick Air Force Base and works in the space program at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, is well-liked in the small community.

"She always has a smile," Bailey said. "I've never heard her say anything bad about anybody."

Laurin Sellers can be reached at 321-795-3251 or lsellers@orlandosentinel.com.

see related stories on pages A1 and A7.



Copyright © 2007, Orlando Sentinel

[nonesuche]

I don't condone her behavior but I do have questions regarding this Oefelein and was he double-dipping? I also found Nowak's phrasing describing their relationship as less than romantic but more than friendship? Excuse my french but is this to mean sex buddies? I have to ask, something is unseen here still, just my intuition.

I hope she can get some help and salvage her life, her children deserve that.

Thanks for the info Jacq  

[Jacqueline]

Profile of NASA astronaut William A. Oefelein

Michael Cabbage
Sentinel Space Editor
Published February 6, 2007


CAPE CANAVERAL -- William A. Oefelein lived in relative obscurity for a NASA astronaut until Lisa Nowak's arrest Monday catapulted him into the national spotlight.

Described by Nowak as someone with whom she had "more than a working relationship, but less than a romantic relationship," the 41-year-old Navy commander did not respond to requests for an interview Tuesday. Oefelein, a former TOPGUN pilot, works at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, with Nowak and other astronauts. The father of two children, he was divorced in 2005.

Oefelein grew up in Anchorage, Alaska. His desire to explore was nurtured by the state's vast, icy wilderness. A test pilot, he often said the lack of roads eventually led him to the skies.

"People [in Alaska] are more adventurous, and they like the openness," explained Oefelein during a 2006 NASA interview.

Oefelein left Alaska after high school to earn a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Oregon State University. Following graduation, he joined the U.S. Navy and earned his wings as a Naval aviator in 1990. His early assignments included overseas deployments to the Persian Gulf as a fighter pilot aboard an aircraft carrier.

After attending the Navy's TOPGUN fighter weapons school, Oefelein graduated in 1995 from the Navy's test pilot school at Patuxent River, Md., where he returned as an instructor two years later.

In 1998, he was working as a strike operations officer for a carrier wing in Virginia, when he got the phone call he had been waiting for. He had been selected to join NASA's astronaut corps.

"A lot of folks who do that test pilot work also went on to fly space shuttles," Oefelein said during last year's NASA interview. "I started talking to a bunch of those folks and at that point it just seemed natural for me to go to the next phase and try to fly space shuttles. I never really, as a kid, wanted to become an astronaut; I just wanted to fly airplanes and explore."

Oefelein made his first and only flight to space as shuttle Discovery's co-pilot in December. During the 12-day mission, he and six crewmates helped rewire the electrical system aboard the international space station.

Michael Cabbage can be reached at mcabbageorlandosentinel.com or 321-639-0522.





Copyright © 2007, Orlando Sentinel

[Jacqueline]

I don't condone her behavior but I do have questions regarding this Oefelein and was he double-dipping? I also found Nowak's phrasing describing their relationship as less than romantic but more than friendship? Excuse my french but is this to mean sex buddies? I have to ask, something is unseen here still, just my intuition.

I hope she can get some help and salvage her life, her children deserve that.

Thanks for the info Jacq  

Yes I find that comment a little weird too.
Friends with benefits???
Or....perhaps she wanted it to be more romantic and it was unrequited....

And in her mind she thought that this Shipman was standing in her way...

Who knows.....Would be interesting to hear a comment from the Male in this Triangle....

[pdh3]

Lisa Nowak seems a little dilusional to me. No one who is rational and in touch with reality behaves this way. As intelligent as she is, if her thinking processes were not impaired, she'd know how crazy the plan was, and that she'd get caught.
It's just a sad story.

[Jacqueline]

Lisa Nowak seems a little dilusional to me. No one who is rational and in touch with reality behaves this way. As intelligent as she is, if her thinking processes were not impaired, she'd know how crazy the plan was, and that she'd get caught.
It's just a sad story.

Yes something snapped in her.

[Jacqueline]

NASA is revising its psychological screening of astronauts after one of them, Lisa Nowak, was charged with attempted murder.

[Jacqueline]

A mental evaluation is likely in the works for the NASA astronaut arrested in Orlando accused in a bizarre love triangle.

Right now, Lisa Nowak is back in Texas. She flew home Wednesday, one day after being charged with trying to murder a woman she believed was in a relationship with another astronaut she was also going after.

Nowak ducked from the cameras again while getting escorted off the plane in Houston. She's charged with attempted murder after police say she confronted Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman at OIA Monday.
   
Meanwhile, Orlando Police say they found a can of pepper spray or mace in the area where Nowak was arrested. They're now trying to figure out if the can is connected to the case.  

In the wake of the Nowak scandal, NASA will review its psychological screening process that allows people to become astronauts.

The top man at NASA ordered the review at the agency. NASA says it will also review the ongoing mental and medical evaluations that are done once a person is named an astronaut.
   
NASA leaders spoke on TV for the first time Wednesday about the incident involving Lisa Nowak.

"As far as how the astronaut core took this, I think folks were shocked and concerned,” Bob Cabana said. “As you said, we are a close knit group and we try and support one another."

NASA has ordered the director of the Johnson Space Center to conduct the review of astronaut screening and see if any changes are needed to procedures.

Today's Top Stories
Astronaut Restraining Order
Astronaut Arrest

[pdh3]

I wish they had taken a closer look before Lisa Nowak went off the deep end. You'd think the suicide of an astronaut would have spurred some action before this lady began unraveling, but apparently they didn't see the need. I hope they can prevent the other astronauts from being involved in another tragedy due to mental health issues.

[Jacqueline]

A peek a boo into Nowak’s tumultuous life
by Gunika Khurana - February 11, 2007 - 0 comments

 Love is a strange thing and sometimes it lands people in a mare’s nest. Take the recent case of Navy Captain Lisa Nowak, who was charged for attempted murder. The tragedy not only brought tears to Nowak and her family members, but it also struck hard at the appreciated image of astronauts as ‘superior’ individuals who can muddle through stresses that might tumble the rest of us.

Since the case has ultimately resolved now, the lesson it brought with it is that astronauts are normal human beings and acute mental stress can break them down too.

Lisa Nowak, born on May 10, 1963, became interested in space when she was a mere child of five. Hard work etched her way to success and she became an astronaut for NASA in 1996 and also qualified as a mission specialist in robotics.

Nowak, the first Italian American women, went into space on July 4, 2006, on the STS-121 mission, which included a trip to the International Space Station.

Inspite of being married with Richard T. Nowak, Lisa fancied fellow astronaut William Oefelein and had a soft corner for him. Love surely makes people do bizarre acts, and so was the case with Lisa.

She allegedly held the Colleen Shipman had an affair with Oefelein, and that was the main reason for her to attack Shipman.

On February 5, 2006, Nowak was arrested at Orlando International Airport on charges of attempted kidnapping, battery, attempted vehicle burglary with battery, and destruction of evidence.

Astronaut Bill Oefelein took leave from NASA after the incident and went to join girlfriend Colleen Shipman in Florida.

The event has been highly publicized in media and has dominated newspapers, sites, programmes and conversations.

It has put NASA under a state of shock, which has been renown for its mentally fit astronauts. Space agency spokesman James Hartsfield said, “in spite of the extensive psychological testing astronauts go through, we don't track the personal lives of the individuals that work for the agency."

Former NASA psychiatrist Dr. Patricia Santy commented, "I really believe that NASA goes overboard in promoting how heroic and super all these people are. They themselves have forgotten these are ordinary people and in that kind of celebrity culture, there's a sense of entitlement." Space policy and history writer Howard McCurdy of American University said, "The astronaut culture is still a carry over from 'The Right Stuff' days. It is very high intensity; it is very competitive."

There is a lot of psychological and psychiatric screening before the admission, but during the term of service, there are no formal psychological evaluations.

Although, the act of driving 900 miles to deal with a woman deemed as a rival for the affections of another astronaut seems gonzo, there is yet no evidence that proves Nowak was undergoing psychological problems.

Not only did Nowak’s act dominated in the media, it will soon be seen ruling the Big screen as well. I am sure some of you must have sensed that this was coming, and it won’t be a big shock to know that “the strange saga of Lisa’ will be turned into a movie.

Granada America, the U.S.-based production entity of ITV and one of Europe's largest broadcasters and producers has optioned the film rights to a New York Times article on Lisa Nowak.