Posted on 02/06/2007 3:57:57 AM PST by familyop
A US astronaut has been charged with trying to kidnap a woman she thought was a rival for the affection of a space shuttle pilot.
Navy Capt Lisa Nowak, 43, who flew to the international space station last July, was charged with attempted kidnapping, battery and other crimes.
She drove from Texas to Florida to confront Colleen Shipman, disguised in a wig and trench coat.
Police said Capt Nowak, who was denied bail, used pepper spray on Ms Shipman.
The man in the love triangle was said to be Navy Cmdr William Oefelein, who was a pilot on the Discovery's mission to the space station in December.
E-mails
Police said Capt Nowak drove 1,000 miles (1,600km) from her home in Houston to Orlando International Airport, wearing a nappy to avoid a toilet break.
The arrest affidavit says Capt Nowak then followed Ms Shipman in an airport bus.
Capt Nowak pursued Ms Shipman to her vehicle in the car park.
Ms Shipman locked herself in but rolled down the window when Capt Nowak began to cry, the affidavit says.
Ms Shipman was then attacked with the pepper spray, it says. She drove to a car park booth and police were called.
An officer followed Capt Nowak and she was stopped allegedly carrying the wig, an air rifle, a steel mallet and a knife.
A search of her vehicle revealed pepper spray and e-mails between Ms Shipman and Cmdr Oefelein, police said.
In the affidavit, Ms Nowak describes her attachment to Cmdr Oefelein as "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship".
Capt Nowak told police she just wanted to scare her rival into talking about her relationship with Cmdr Oefelein.
Attempted kidnapping carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Nasa biographies list Capt Nowak as married with three children and Cmdr Oefelein as single with two children. The pair never flew together.
A Nasa spokesman said at present Capt Nowak's status was "unchanged". Florida's Orlando Sentinel newspaper said Ms Shipman was an engineer with the 45th Launch Support Squadron at a base close to the Kennedy Space Centre.
The way she looks would scare paint off a wall.
That clown would have done an even more inept job than she did.
"If a person has a split personality their partner..."
...may be themself!!!
I'm curious as to how they decided to charge her with attempted murder...
seems like a stretch.
Because she had equipped herself with all the accessories necessary for subduing, restraining, murdering, dismembering and disposing of someone? Nah. Too obvious. They used a Oiuja Board.
I'd be willing to bet shuttle astronauts wear "nappies".
Yes, they do. IMO, she wore nappies because she had to get gas a few times. But rather than subject herself to the store's security cameras, she elected to pay at the pump. Unfortunately, this denied her access to the restrooms.
More and more rest stops have security cameras too, so she cut the gordian knot and went with a diaper.
Capt Nowak told police she just wanted to scare her rival into talking about her relationship with Cmdr Oefelein... Nasa biographies list Capt Nowak as married with three children and Cmdr Oefelein as single with two children.Just to scare her into talking, hence the 1000 mile car trip wearing a diaper and a disguise.
Maybe someone might want to try to beat it.
According to a story I read this morning, they are separated.
Oefelein was divorced in 2005
I'll bet she was on some kind of medication for the past twelve months...which her old husband probably had all the suffering he could take in the marriage and she probably had all kinds of dreams for this other astronaut buddy of hers. She is finished with the agency...and to likely get a 20-year pension deal with the Navy. I'll bet she ends up with NBC as some kinda analyst in the end.
We have a match.
Obviously his judgment hasn't improved...
This kind of thing happens when women leave their God-ordained roles as nurtureres of the family. And it's no surprise that Novak was a Clinton appointee. He probably appointed a lot of homosexuals at NASA too.
I feel sorry for her, and fight the natural urge to make fun of her. Sex can motivate people to do really batty things.
COLLEEN SHIPMAN
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