Posted on 02/07/2007 10:05:15 PM PST by fishhound
THE bizarre episode of a female astronaut driving halfway across the US in a nappy to confront a rival in a love triangle has raised the question: just how well grounded are astronauts?
Lisa Nowak, a 43-year-old married mother of three, was charged on Tuesday with attempted murder and attempted kidnapping after allegedly assaulting Colleen Shipman, a US Air Force engineer and student pilot based at Patrick Air Force Base, near Orlando, Florida.
Nowak, a navy engineer, flew on the space shuttle Discovery in June as a mission specialist and earned the nickname "Robochick" as the operator of the shuttle's robotic arm.
Late last week, police say, she drove 1450 kilometres from her home in Houston, Texas - wearing a nappy so she would not have to stop for a toilet break - to Orlando Airport to confront Captain Shipman, 30, a woman she saw as a rival for the affections of another astronaut, William Oefelein, the 41-year-old commander of last December's Discovery flight to the International Space Station.
"[Nowak] had a mission that she was very determined to carry out," said the prosecutor, Amanda Cowan. "Murder was the plan."
Nowak said little and showed no emotion during two court appearances in Orlando on Tuesday. She was released on $US25,500 ($32,800) bail and the condition that she wear a global positioning system on her ankle that would set off an alarm if she entered the county where Captain Shipman works.
Her lawyer said the charges would be vigorously contested.
After her court appearance, family members sent out an email to journalists, describing her as a "caring and dedicated mother" and pleading for understanding.
Nowak, who separated from her husband last month, was scheduled to work as a ground crew member on the shuttle's mission next month. She is now on leave for 30 days and has been removed from mission activities.
"We are deeply saddened by this tragic event," the director of the Johnson Space Centre, Michael Coats, said in a statement.
The incident has raised questions about NASA's psychological screening of astronauts. While the space agency has devoted resources to studying the psychological impact of lengthy space travel, it has been criticised in the past for not psychologically testing its astronauts. A report in the late 1990s said astronauts were tested to enter the program, but not tested subsequently. NASA responded at the time that it was considering pre- and post-flight examinations, as well as annual assessments. But most of the attention was focused on psychological issues during space travel, not on the ground.
After Nowak was arrested, a NASA spokesman said that crew did not undergo psychological evaluation on normal shuttle missions. However, crew undergoing long-term missions on the space station were screened before, during and after missions.
The episode has provided fodder for television talk show comedians. "Of course it failed. Let's face it, she's no rocket scientist," David Letterman joked.
Jay Leno said of the decision to give her bail: "Flight risk? She could leave the planet!"
Story Picture: Lisa Nowak
The shuttle will always seem like just a giant mini van driven by a psycho soccer mom.
They never should have put a wet bar in the shuttle.
Maybe the trip to Florida from Texas has saved us from something worse...the sight of Nowak slamming the shuttle into her rivals house.
Does anyone know how they lock up someone with obviously a lot of top secret stuff in thier head?
In any case pray for all of them this is terrible.
Lots of people out there with relationship problems you never hear about. Average number of TROs issued in the US is something on the order of 860,000/year.
de truth
When men and women are thrown together in intimate and high pressure situations it's easy for "love" to blossom.
Check out the pregnancy rates for female sailors on aircraft carriers for example.
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