Last July Navy Capt. Lisa Marie Nowak was a mission specialist aboard the space shuttle Discovery.
Nowak and Colleen Shipman, an engineer assigned to the 45th Launch Support Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base, both had a relationship with Navy commander Bill Oefelein who is also an astronaut.
Nowak reportedly described her relationship with Oefelein was “more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship.” Which strangely sounds like a, it depends on what your definition is, is defense.
Regardless, Nowak landed in jail Monday on charges of battery and attempted kidnapping after allegedly trying to subdue her romantic rival Shipman with pepper spray and abduct her from a parking lot at Orlando International Airport.
Shipman affected her escape from the spacey spacewoman, eyes burning from the pepper spray, by alerting the lot security guard. Police responded and found Nowak at a bus stop, then the story gets real weird:
Nowak admitted the details of Shipman’s allegations, according to the police report, and permitted a search of her car.
Inside the car, police found an a half-dozen latex gloves, MapQuest directions from Houston to Orlando International Airport, e-mails from Shipman to Oefelein, diapers that Nowak said she used to eliminate stops along the highway, a letter indicating how much she loved Oefelein and directions to Shipman’s home address in Florida, the report said.
Asked about the BB pistol, Nowak told police it “was going to be used to entice Ms. Shipman to talk with her,” the report said.
“Mrs. Nowak stated that she was not trying to cause any bodily harm to Ms. Shipman and that she only wanted to scare Ms. Shipman into talking with her,” the police report said.
Nowak, who is married with three children and has been an astronaut since 1996, flew her first shuttle mission in July as a mission specialist aboard Discovery.
Two astronauts, Navy Capt. Chris Ferguson and retired Air Force Col. Steve Lindsey, have gone to Florida to establish contact with Nowak, Hawley said, adding that her status as an active-duty astronaut remains unchanged.
Ah-huh, I can hear Ferguson and Lindsey now, “Earth to Nowak…. Earth to Nowak, Nowak!”
“Houston we have a problem, negative contact we’ve lost comms with Nowak.
Navy Capt. Lisa Marie Nowak, NASA, Shuttle Discovery, Space Flight, Crime, Cranial Cavity, Astronaut, Auto Racing, Motorsports, Asian MotorSports Blog
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