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The Hollywood Reporter revealed Tuesday that Reese Witherspoon has been cast into the leading role of a new drama called “The Pale Blue Dot” in which she plays a female astronaut whose life spirals out of control after returning from a space mission. She begins an affair with a fellow astronaut and soon finds herself in a love triangle. The story seems to be not so loosely based on the incident in which real life astronaut Lisa Nowak who drove nonstop between Houston and Orlando wearing an adult diaper and disguised in a trench coat and sunglasses to confront a...

Lisa Nowak, a former NASA astronaut whose 2007 arrest made national news, has officially retired from the U.S. Navy with an "other than honorable" discharge, officials said Thursday. In a statement, Assistant Secretary of Navy Juan Garcia said that Nowak "demonstrated a complete disregard for the well-being" of romantic rival Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman. Authorities said Nowak drove nonstop from Texas to Orlando, confronting Shipman, then the girlfriend of Nowak's former lover, at Orlando International Airport on Feb. 5, 2007.

A Navy panel says the service should discharge former astronaut Lisa Nowak, who lost her NASA job over a bizarre airport attack on a romantic rival. The panel made the recommendation Thursday after a daylong hearing at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville. The recommendation now goes to the Naval Personnel Command. A final decision will be made by the Secretary of the Navy. The panel recommended downgrading Nowak from captain to commander and giving her a discharge of "other than honorable." Nowak was sentenced to a year on probation last November after pleading guilty to third-degree felony burglary and...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- After a day-long hearing at Naval Station Jacksonville, a Navy Board of Inquiry recommended that a love-scorned astronaut who drove from Texas to Florida in 2007 should be demoted from captain to commander and separated from the Navy.....

MELBOURNE, Florida — A Florida attorney says a couple who were rocketed into the public eye by the antics of a former astronaut are getting married. Kepler Funk, a Melbourne attorney who represents Colleen Shipman, said Friday that she and former space shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein have gotten engaged. The couple, who now live in Alaska, have not set a date. • Photos: Astronaut Love Triangle Authorities say Lisa Nowak, who worked with Oefelein in the space program, famously drove from Houston to the parking lot of Orlando International Airport in February 2007 to confront Shipman.

Nowak is the woman accused of driving 1,600 kilometres to confront a romantic rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot. An appeals court ruled Friday that the diapers, along with latex gloves and other items found in Nowak's car can be used as evidence.

A judge agreed Friday to toss much of the evidence against Nowak, a former astronaut accused of making a diaper-assisted, 1,000-mile drive to confront a woman vying for the affections of the same space shuttle pilot. Investigators took advantage of 44-year-old Lisa Nowak, who had not slept for more than 24 hours, coercing her into giving information in a lengthy arrest interview, Orange County Circuit Judge Marc L. Lubet said. Lubet granted a defense motion to throw out comments she made during the six-hour interview and items seized during a search of her BMW, including maps to alleged victim Colleen...

Buzz Aldrin said a former astronaut charged with attempted kidnapping should be ``admired'' -- but not excused -- for her resolve in allegedly confronting a romantic rival, according to a published report. Lisa Nowak was arrested in February after police said the married mother of three had driven nearly 1,000 miles to Orlando. ``Astronauts are not superhuman. They lead ordinary lives and have varied personalities,'' Aldrin said in comments published on Time magazine's Web site.

Were the diapers in her car actually opened and used or not?

Former Astronaut To Pursue Insanity Defense (AP) ORLANDO, Fla. Former astronaut Lisa Nowak is pursuing an insanity defense on charges that she assaulted and tried to kidnap a romantic rival, according to a document released Tuesday. Circuit Court Judge Marc L. Lubet unsealed Nowak's notice of intent to rely on a mental health defense. Florida law requires such a notice before trial to let prosecutors prepare.

Orlando, Fla. (AP) -- Former astronaut Lisa Nowak is pursuing an insanity defense on charges that she assaulted and tried to kidnap a romantic rival, according to a document released Tuesday. Defense attorney Donald Lykkebak wrote that Nowak suffered from major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, insomnia and "brief psychotic disorder with marked stressors." He noted that the already-petite Nowak had recently lost 15 percent of her body weight. "This notice does not challenge competence to stand trial, but only raises insanity at the time of the offense," . . .

Ex-astronaut Wants Ankle Bracelet Off By TRAVIS REED, Associated Press Writer ORLANDO, Fla. - Interviewing former astronaut Lisa Nowak was "like a chess game," a detective testified Friday as Nowak's attorney urged a judge to throw out evidence and a police interview in which she talked about the alleged attack on a romantic rival. Nowak also took the stand and asked the court to let her remove her electronic monitoring bracelet, complaining that it cuts her ankle and gets in the way of her military boot lace. As Nowak testified, the rival she was accused of pepper spraying in an...

ORLANDO, Fla. — Impatient. Defensive. Emotional. Incoherent. Astronaut Lisa Nowak is all of these things in a four-hour video, released today, of her stay in a holding cell immediately after her arrest at the airport here in February. As officers come in and out of her cell to give her something to drink or take her to the restroom, Nowak seems frustrated and bewildered by repeated questions implying her intentions toward her romantic rival Colleen Shipman, an officer at Patrick Air Force Base near Cape Canaveral, Fla., were more than just to talk. After her arrest on charges of attempted...

ORLANDO, Fla. - Former astronaut Lisa Nowak, accused of attacking a romantic rival, asked a judge Friday to let her remove her electronic monitoring ankle bracelet, saying that it cuts her ankle and gets in the way of her military boot laces. Former astronaut Lisa Nowak enters the courtroom before a hearing at the Orange County courthouse in Orlando, Fla., Friday, Aug. 24, 2007. Nowak, accused of attacking a romantic rival, arrived in court Friday with a swarm of photographers snapping away as she was escorted to a private room to prepare. (AP Photo/John Raoux) Nowak promised to abide by...

ORLANDO, FLA. — Former astronaut Lisa Nowak wants a judge to let her remove the ankle bracelet that allows authorities to track her location as she awaits trial for allegedly attacking a romantic rival, saying it is "an unnecessary and excessive expense." Nowak is paying $105 a week — $2,940 so far — for the monitoring device as a condition of her release, according to a court filing her attorney says was made Thursday. The clerk at the Circuit Court in Orange County could not find the filing, but said it could be in the pipeline. Nowak also argues that...

Report: Drunk astronauts were allowed to fly BY MARTIN MERZER NASA allowed at least two astronauts to fly into space even though they were so drunk that flight surgeons considered them a safety risk, according to a report published Thursday by Aviation Week and Space Technology.In a brief account reported on the publication's website, the trade journal said an independent health panel commissioned by NASA also found a pattern of ''heavy use of alcohol'' by astronauts before launch.The report did not include any details about which astronauts or space programs were involved or how recently the problems might have...

Last Updated: Saturday, 26 May 2007, 15:16 GMT 16:16 UK William Oefelein admitted to having had an affair with Ms Novak The Space Shuttle pilot involved in a love triangle that led to a bizarre show-down between a female astronaut and her rival is to leave Nasa. William Oefelein, 42, has been reassigned to the navy, his original corps, the US space agency said. Astronaut Lisa Nowak, who had an affair with him, is awaiting trial on charges of attempted kidnapping and assault. In February she drove across five states to confront her love rival and pepper-sprayed her car. On...

ORLANDO, Fla. - A police search of former astronaut Lisa Nowak's car turned up bondage photos on a computer disk, British currency and pills, according to documents released Tuesday by prosecutors. This photo released by the Orlando State's Attorney office on Tuesday April 10, 2007, shows a floppy disk and portable storage devices that were recovered from the car driven by NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak after she was arrested for trying to kidnap a romantic rival. Nowak was arrested in February 2007 after police say she drove from Houston to Florida to confront Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman. Authorities have...

Police found bondage photos on a computer disk, British currency and pills in former astronaut Lisa Nowak's car after she was arrested for trying to kidnap a romantic rival, according to documents released Tuesday by the State Attorney's Office. The floppy disk contained 16 images, 15 of them showing a woman sometimes nude, according to a forensic examination report by the Orlando Police Department. Nearly all of the images depicted scenes of bondage, the report said. The documents did not make clear if Nowak was the woman in the photos or who to whom the disks belonged. Nowak's attorney, Donald...

"The former NASA astronaut accused of trying to kidnap a woman while in possession of a steel mallet, rubber tubing and a knife will help develop flight lesson plans at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi."