psycho astronaut lady

Parent Cafe
1

<p>"Feb. 6, 2007 — The arrest of Lisa Nowak, an astronaut and the married mother of a teenage son and twin 5-year-old girls, has baffled many who know her and work with her at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. </p>

<p>Nowak flew on the second test flight of a space shuttle after the Columbia disaster, and is a Navy commander who has logged more than 1,500 flight hours in 30 different aircraft. </p>

<p>She is now accused of attempted kidnapping, battery, attempted vehicle burglary with battery, and destruction of evidence, according to an affidavit filed with the Orlando Police Department. </p>

<p>The accuser is a woman who Nowak believed was romantically involved with fellow astronaut Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, according to police. Investigators are piecing together an assortment of evidence, including love letters and e-mails that suggest a love triangle between the three. </p>

<p>The details in the affidavit portray a woman who was obsessed over a real or imagined relationship with Oefelein, who flew on the last shuttle mission in December. </p>

<p>Cross-Country Drive, Wearing Diapers
Police say that Nowak left Houston and drove 900 miles to the Orlando airport, reportedly stopping only for gas and wearing diapers so she wouldn’t have to stop to urinate. </p>

<p>At the airport, she waited for the return flight of Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman, who she believed was her rival for Oefelein’s affections. </p>

<p>Nowak wore a trench coat and a wig to disguise herself, and carried pepper spray and a BB gun. She trailed Shipman to her car and attempted to enter the car, but Shipman drove to a parking lot booth and called the police. </p>

<p>From the police affidavit:
“Lisa Marie Nowak (Arrestee) drove from Houston, Texas to Orlando, Florida in order to meet Colleen Shipman (victim) at the Orlando International Airport. Once Shipman arrived at the airport, Nowak followed Shipman to the blue lot where Shipman had parked her car. As Shipman gets into her car, Lisa Marie Nowak approaches Shipman’s car, slaps the window, and tries to open the door. When Shipman will not open the door, Nowak begins to cry. Shipman cracks the window of her car at which time Nowak sprays pepper spray into the vehicle. Shipman is able to drive away from Nowak and ask for the Police. Nowak and Shipman were both in a relationship with another Astronaut. Nowak felt that she needed to meet with Shipman and discuss the details of their relationship with the male Astronaut.”
After Shipman called the police, officers saw Nowak stuff a garbage bag into a trash can at the airport. </p>

<p>Inside the bag, they found a wig, trench coat, a BB pistol, a new steel mallet, a new folding knife with a four-inch blade, three to four feet of rubber tubing, several plastic garbage bags, and about $600 in cash. </p>

<p>Was There a Relationship?
Nowak and Oefelein did not fly on the same space shuttle mission, but they trained together for 11 days in 2002 at a Canadian army cold-weather survival camp. </p>

<p>Friends and colleagues are baffled over the allegations. One astronaut told ABC News that the astronaut corps at the Johnson Space Center was “totally, totally stunned. Everyone is just stunned.” </p>

<p>Nowak is scheduled to be a capcom — capsule communicator — on the next space shuttle mission, STS 117, which is targeted for a March 15 launch date. </p>

<p>Will she be suspended? </p>

<p>No one at the Johnson Space Center is saying anything beyond confirming that Nowak is currently on active status. No one remembers a scandal of this proportion in recent memory in the astronaut corps. "</p>

<p>I can’t believe this woman drove 900 miles wearing diapers :eek:
OMG!</p>

2

<p>Heard about this on the radio this morning. The announcer noted that it is common for astronauts to wear “diapers” during takeoffs and landings. So that part of it is quite understandable and logical given her background.</p>

3

<p>I feel very sorry for her 3 teen aged kids and her husband.
I wonder if the woman has a mental health problem such as being bi-polar. Clearly, what she did wasn’t rational, and I’m wondering if the irrationality is due to mental illness, not being love struck.</p>

4

<p>“The announcer noted that it is common for astronauts to wear “diapers” during takeoffs and landings. So that part of it is quite understandable and logical given her background.”</p>

<p>Earth to Lisa Nowak: You’re in a car now, not a spaceship. You can take off the diapers.</p>

5

<p>

</p>

<p>Yes. I mean, as far as we know, there are no inter-galactic rest stops, so the astronauts in space have a valid reason for wearing them. But driving a car?? Yikes. </p>

<p>I agree NSM. She clearly has something not quite right in her mind and I hope she gets the treatment she needs.</p>

6

<p>So much for the renaming of the elementary schools.</p>

7

<p>

I suspect you’re correct and that there’s going to be a lot more about this story. Someone as stellar (if you’ll pardon the expression) as she was doesn’t just do something this nutty if there’s not an emotional issue going on. Let’s give this some time.</p>

8

<p>this is SOOOOOOO weird</p>

9

<p>NorthStarMom:</p>

<p>I echo you and the others. This sounds like mental illness.</p>

10

<p>Well, I appreciate all of you taking the high road. I , on the other hand, will head a little lower. As I said on another thread, I was wondering if the expertise she gained being the robotic arm specialist on the last shuttle flight came in handy in removing the 900 mile diaper? ;)</p>

<p>This is truly one of the stranger stories in a good while.</p>

11

<p>heh… I can go low too :)</p>

<p>I’m wondering if Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein is thinking…“yeah the b**ches go craaa-zay for what I got…”</p>

12

<p>She drives 900 miles nonstop with probable intent to kidnap and murder her romantic rival, and we’re like ew gross she was wearing diapers! **L O L ** !!</p>

13

<p>NJres:</p>

<p>Yeah. That is kinda funny. But just imagine. She HAD to stop for gas, right? I mean, she might as well have … er … well, you know … while she was stopped for gas. But she chose a diaper? I’m guessing mental illness.</p>

<p>I think it’s a pretty safe guess.</p>

14

<p>Let’s see, this particular area of Houston has provided Andrea Yates, Clara Harris (who drove back and forth over her cheating husband), and now Lisa Nowak. Come to think of it, the Texas Cheerleading Mom lived near there, too.</p>

15

<p>OH! But the poor thing was so STRESSED! (I’d be stressed too if I had 3 kids and a husband and was carrying on an affair.)</p>

16

<p>Wow. I have been in rush hour traffic after too much coffee in the morning many times. The diaper would have come in handy a few times!!! I wouldn’t assume mental illness just for that. :D</p>

17

<p>fireflyscout - must be something in the water…</p>

18

<p>The reason that I’m guessing mental illness – particularly something like bi-polar – is her obsessive emphasis on reaching the rival, and the crazy way that Nowak accomplished that goal. Driving 1,000 miles at one sitting. Having a wig, pepper spray, and diapers. Whatever she was planning to do to the rival made no sense.</p>

<p>Add to that Nowak apparently had a history of being a stable person with extraordinary good sense who was able to balance lots of things (marriage, motherhood, her difficult career) or she wouldn’t have ended up as an astronaut. She also had to pass psychological tests and screenings to get to be an astronaut.</p>

<p>I don’t think that what we’re hearing about indicates a problem of the heart. Something now is not right in her head. While rare, it does happen that sometimes at midlife people have psychotic breaks or bi-polar experiences.</p>

19

<p>She was spaced out to go from astronaut to astronut…</p>

20

<p>For some reason, the image of Tom Hanks in Apollo 13 keeps popping up in my head. Is there any way this story could be a sequel? I think Tom Hanks could play the part of the desired astronaut.</p>