Space shuttle astronaut arrested on attempted kidnapping, battery charges

**Phatie** · 02.05.07, 09:44 PM

Space shuttle astronaut arrested at OIA on attempted kidnapping, battery charges

Henry Pierson Curtis | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted February 5, 2007, 11:05 PM EST

A NASA astronaut is being held without bail after police say she attacked her rival for another astronaut's attention at Orlando International Airport Monday.

Lisa Marie Nowak drove more than 12 hours from Texas to meet the 1 a.m. flight of a younger woman who had also been seeing the astronaut Nowak pined for, according to Orlando police.

Nowak -- who was a mission specialist on a Space Shuttle Discovery flight last summer -- was wearing a trench coat and wig and had a knife, BB pistol, and latex gloves in her car, reports show. They also found diapers, which Nowak said she used so she wouldn't have to stop on the 1,000-mile drive. Reports show that after U.S. Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman's flight arrived, Nowak followed her to the airport's Blue Lot for long-term parking, tried to get into Shipman's car and then doused her with pepper spray.

Nowak, 43, is charged with attempted kidnapping, battery, attempted vehicle burglary with battery and destruction of evidence. Police considered her such a danger that they requested she be held without bail in the Orange County Jail, reports show.

Nowak's booking photo (ORANGE COUNTY JAIL)
Feb 5, 2007

A married mother of three, Nowak told police that she was "involved in a relationship with," Bill Oefelein, another NASA astronaut, which she categorized as "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to the charging affidavit.

Oefelein, who piloted the most recent shuttle flight in December, could not be reached Monday night at home in Houston.

She found out Oefelein was involved with Shipman and planned a trip to Orlando to talk to Shipman about their relationships with Oefelein, reports show. She also told police the BB gun "was going to be used to entice Ms. Shipman to talk with her."

Shipman, an engineer assigned to the 45th Launch Support Squadron at Patrick Air Force base near the Kennedy Space Center, told police she was flying home from Houston. She could not be reached for comment Monday night at her home near Port Canaveral.

Shipman told police that after waiting two hours to get her luggage, she noticed a woman in a trench coat waiting near the airport taxi stand. When Shipman boarded a shuttle bus to long-term parking, the woman followed, according to police.

When Shipman got into her car in the Blue lot on Cargo Road, reports show, she heard "running footsteps" coming toward her. Nowak tried to open the car door, then claimed she needed a ride, or use of a cell phone.

"No. If you need help, I'll send someone to help you," Shipman responded, reports show.

Nowak claimed she could not hear and started to cry.

"Ms. Shipman rolled her window down about 2 inches, so Mrs. Nowak could hear her... Mrs. Nowak sprayed some type of chemical spray into the vehicle, at Ms. Shipman's face," a detective wrote.

Shipman sped away to the parking lot's toll booth, where she asked a parking employee to call police.

The first officer to reach the Blue lot, saw the suspect drop something black into a trash can at one of the parking shuttle stops. Within minutes, Shipman identified Nowak as her attacker.

A steel mallet, several feet of rubber tubing and hand-written directions to Shipman's home were recovered from Nowak's car, which was parked at a nearby LaQuinta Inn, reports show.

Picked up shortly before 4 a.m., Nowak was questioned until about 5 p.m. when police took her to the county jail.

Her arrest may be the first-ever felony charges filed on an active-duty astronaut, according to the space agency.

"Her status as an astronaut with NASA is currently unchanged. I cannot speculate on what might happen beyond that," said James Hartsfield, a NASA spokesman at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where Nowak and Oefelein work.

Nowak's biography shows she is a 1985 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis with a degree in aerospace engineering, and a former test pilot who has logged more than 1,500 hours of flight in at least 30 types of aircraft.

She joined the space program in 1996. Three members of her astronaut class died in the 2003 shuttle Columbia disaster.

A Navy captain, Nowak flew aboard last summer's 12-day flight to re-supply the International Space Station and test safety features and repair techniques.

"A lot of my training is what you might think of as a Flight Engineer on ascent and entry," she said in a pre-flight interview on the NASA Web site. "I sit behind and between the pilot and commander and help coordinate things and keep the big picture."

A Navy commander, Oefelein is a former test pilot who attended TOPGUN, the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School. He has flown more 3,000 hours in more than 50 types of aircraft, including over 200 carrier landings, according to NASA.

More:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...home-headlines

**Axxman300** · 02.05.07, 10:03 PM

Houston, we have a Bitch on wheels.

**Phatie** · 02.05.07, 10:56 PM

Originally Posted by Axxman300

Houston, we have a Bitch on wheels.

haha.. I like this part, "They also found diapers, which Nowak said she used so she wouldn't have to stop on the 1,000-mile drive."

**darthadv** · 02.05.07, 11:41 PM

is that a picture of eddie?

**sisca** · 02.06.07, 12:58 AM

well ,there go any chances of the first fuck in space.

AT · 02.06.07, 01:21 AM

What's "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship"? Did they get drunk and play strip poker one night?

**billy007** · 02.06.07, 05:40 AM

Originally Posted by Phatie

haha.. I like this part, "They also found diapers, which Nowak said she used so she wouldn't have to stop on the 1,000-mile drive."

What kind of mileage must she get?

**ZeoBandit** · 02.06.07, 06:00 AM

Have you seen most gas station's bathrooms? I wouldn't want to stop in there either!

So much for the psychological screening astronauts have to go through.....

**BottomzUp** · 02.06.07, 06:20 AM

WOW! The last infallible of our society has finally fallen! Priests screw little boys, cops get caught with kiddie porn, the Prez gets hummers in the White House and NOW the astronaut community has gone awry!
You just gotta love it!

"What happens in space stays in space!"

**voivod** · 02.06.07, 06:22 AM

Originally Posted by billy007

What kind of mileage must she get?

MPBM

Miles Per Bowel Movement

**ZeoBandit** · 02.06.07, 06:50 AM

OK.... That is just gross, Voi!!! Funny though!

**BottomzUp** · 02.06.07, 06:58 AM

To the average person 900 miles seems like a long haul. We are talking about astronauts though. That's a mere blink of an eye

**Phatie** · 02.06.07, 10:11 AM

Astronaut Charged with Attempted Murder

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- A jail official says a NASA astronaut is being charged with attempted first-degree murder in alleged kidnapping attempt involving a romantic rival.
Lisa Marie Nowak was charged earlier Tuesday with attempting to kidnap a romantic rival in a love triangle with another astronaut.

Nowak, a Navy captain and married mother of three, stood in a jail uniform, looking down during most of the hearing. The 43-year-old robotics specialist faces charges including attempted kidnapping, attempted vehicle burglary with battery, destruction of evidence and battery

Full Story:
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/02/06/D8N4BF1G0.html

**EJC** · 02.06.07, 11:17 AM

OK, let me be the first to say it... She looks pretty hot to me... Not "Angelina Jolie" hot, but "If she was my neighbor, we might have some problems hot." From looking at that picture, I know she was blasting her "Journey - Greatest Hits" CD during the trip to Orlando...

And an astronaut?
That's what I wanted to grow up to be, unfortunately I was stupid, and couldn't get into the the Air Force or Naval Academies with my sub-800 SAT score or 66 overall average in HS.

But I think I would have made one hell of a good astronaut if NASA didn't care about stuff like that...

**Phatie** · 02.06.07, 11:30 AM

Looks pretty hot here, huh?

A married mother of 3 - her family must be so proud! If I were her husband, I'd be the envy of the neighborhood! Wow, what a lucky guy..!

So what if police found a steel mallet, a knife, rubber tubing and large garbage bags that police found in Nowak’s possession, and also found a letter “that indicated how much Mrs. Nowak loved Mr. Oefelein.” Having MILF status has to forgive her for all this attempted murder stuff. I mean besides, some women are just too pretty to go to jail. yeah, she looks so attractive now..