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Astronaut suffered 'mental anguish'
Associated Press (excerpt) ^ | February 7, 2007 | RASHA MADKOUR and DAVID CRARY

Posted on 02/07/2007 5:59:20 PM PST by HAL9000

Excerpt -

HOUSTON - Lisa Nowak chose a juggling act of dauntingly high difficulty: to be an astronaut and a mother of three. Her background — high school valedictorian, Naval Academy graduate, test pilot — seemed to equip her for the challenge. Yet as she and some of her acquaintances acknowledged, the stresses on her and her family were extraordinarily intense.

On Wednesday, transformed from space hero to criminal suspect, Nowak returned to Houston for a medical assessment, a day after she was charged in Florida with attempted murder and attempted kidnapping in what police depicted as a love triangle involving a fellow astronaut.

The woman viewed as a role model by the schoolchildren she often addressed was met on the tarmac by police and escorted into a waiting squad car after her release on bail. Her head was covered by a jacket. She faced a medical exam at Johnson Space Center.

NASA, at a loss to explain what went wrong, said it would revamp its psychological screening process in light of Nowak's arrest. The review will look at how astronauts are screened for psychological problems and whether Nowak's dealings with co-workers signaled complications.

~ snip ~


(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; US: Florida; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: astronaut; astronut; lisanowak; lovetriangle; lovetriangleinspace; nasa; nowak; spacedout; thewrongstuff
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She needs to take a stress pill and think things over.
1 posted on 02/07/2007 5:59:22 PM PST by HAL9000
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To: HAL9000

"Lisa Nowak chose a juggling act of dauntingly high difficulty: to be an astronaut and a mother of three."

You can be good at one or the other, but not both.


2 posted on 02/07/2007 6:00:53 PM PST by Rb ver. 2.0 (A Muslim soldier can never be loyal to a non-Muslim commander.)
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To: HAL9000

Pressure will get you - one way or another.


3 posted on 02/07/2007 6:01:57 PM PST by xcamel (Press to Test, Release to Detonate)
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To: HAL9000

After traveling to space can she claim she wanted to murder because of Post dePartum Depression?


4 posted on 02/07/2007 6:03:21 PM PST by DainBramage
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To: HAL9000
Lisa Nowak chose a juggling act of dauntingly high difficulty: to be an astronaut and a mother of three.

Where is her husband in all of this?

5 posted on 02/07/2007 6:03:33 PM PST by oldbrowser (This war isn't over until it's OVER.)
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To: HAL9000

Moral of the story: if you're a zoomie at the Air Force Academy, don't mess with USNA! j/k


6 posted on 02/07/2007 6:04:19 PM PST by glennshepard (Semper Fi, Beat Army)
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To: oldbrowser

Looks like husband and wife separated weeks ago.


7 posted on 02/07/2007 6:04:58 PM PST by LdSentinal
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To: oldbrowser
Where is her husband in all of this?

Richard Nowak also works at Johnson Space Center.

8 posted on 02/07/2007 6:05:09 PM PST by Fitzcarraldo
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To: HAL9000

So when is she checking into rehab?


9 posted on 02/07/2007 6:05:32 PM PST by wizecrakker (Trying to behave)
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To: HAL9000

Too many twinkies.


10 posted on 02/07/2007 6:05:55 PM PST by BigFinn
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To: All
http://www.barrios.com/NewsItem1.cfm?News_ID=70

Richard Nowak, Sandy Johnson, Keith Tran, Macresia Alibaruho

11 posted on 02/07/2007 6:07:08 PM PST by Fitzcarraldo
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To: HAL9000
NASA will put a positive spin on the incident, as a "learning experience" in human behavior.

In fact, if Dan Goldin were still in charge- Nowak would be commanding the very next shuttle flight.

12 posted on 02/07/2007 6:08:23 PM PST by SteveMcKing
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To: HAL9000

Whole bunch of conduct unbecoming an officer going around NASA.


13 posted on 02/07/2007 6:09:58 PM PST by jwalsh07 (Duncan Hunter for President)
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To: HAL9000
This story is just so sad.

An Astronaut, who we always thought of as possessing the utmost of high caliber character (The Right Stuff), turns out to have human failings and jealousies just like everybody else. Sad only because it blows apart the myth

14 posted on 02/07/2007 6:12:40 PM PST by Mr_Moonlight
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To: All

15 posted on 02/07/2007 6:13:08 PM PST by Fitzcarraldo
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To: HAL9000
She needs to take a stress pill and think things over.

I'm no psychiatrist, but I do teach a class for families with loved ones suffering with brain disorders. If I was going to hazard an educated guess I'd say the poor woman suffered a Psychotic break, possibly as a prelude to or onset of Schizophrenia. Brain disorders can affect anyone and at any time of life. My aunt on my mother’s side was similarly her HS class valedictorian and graduated with honors from college. Two years later she suffered a breakdown and spent the rest of her life in and out of institutions. If that is what happened to this woman, while she needs to be accountable, she will also need help. Jag

16 posted on 02/07/2007 6:15:27 PM PST by JaguarXKE
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To: Mr_Moonlight
turns out to have human failings and jealousies just like everybody else.

I suspect her transformation is almost certainly due to some brain disorder. My own son was a bright, healthy, happy young man until he suffered a sudden (and frightening) phychotic break and was later diagnosed as Bi-Polar (caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain).

17 posted on 02/07/2007 6:18:54 PM PST by JaguarXKE
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To: JaguarXKE

Having treated a few hundred of people with these signs, my guess is schizophrenia, paranoid type.


18 posted on 02/07/2007 6:19:50 PM PST by Rudder
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To: Rudder
The signs, ie. planning and lying, herald sociopathy.
I think schizophrenia would have been detected.
19 posted on 02/07/2007 6:21:59 PM PST by Diogenesis (Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum)
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To: HAL9000
"She was the epitome of managing a very hectic career, making sacrifices to accommodate her family," Clark said in a telephone interview. "All those stresses can conspire to be overwhelming. ... Clearly she suffered a lot of mental anguish.

You know, I really feel bad for her, but this analysis in print makes me want to scream:

"Join the club."

A lot of people have 'mental anguish' - they don't commit criminal acts or assault innocent people in what was clearly a calculated and cold manner.

I was an aeronautical engineer, Air Force pilot, father of three, etc, etc. On top of that, I was gone 200+ days a year sometimes. It was damn stressful. But that would never excuse terrible behavior.

The whole tone of this article sounds like an article from Cosmopolitan or a script for an Oprah episode.

There are a lot of American Heroes out there who never get the adulation this woman received. Single mothers who work two jobs (I know a few) are heroes. Police officers who put up with the worst of society and yet give every ounce of love to their children when they get home. And yes, our current service men and women who are at half the strength as during the Cold War, yet are 10 times as busy (that is a fact just acknowledged by the current Air Force Chief of Staff Gen Mosely).

I remember flying, coming home to another job at the base I had to do on top of that, men and women under my command who had a myriad of problems I myself had to help them deal with, study for more schooling or aircraft upgrades, and then nurse a sick child and help run a busy household by cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, and helping with schoolwork. Millions of Americans pour their heart and soul into their lives each day in a similar fashion.

How many of them go off and pepper spray an innocent woman?

I pity this Navy 0-6 astronaut, but I won't suffer pyschobabble excuses made for her.

20 posted on 02/07/2007 6:22:28 PM PST by SkyPilot
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