Space - The Romantic Frontier?

Nicely bizarre, this...

ORLANDO, Fla. - An astronaut drove 900 miles and donned a disguise to confront a woman she believed was her rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot, police said. She was arrested Monday and charged with attempted kidnapping and other counts.

U.S. Navy Capt. Lisa Nowak, 43, who flew last July on a shuttle mission to the international space station, was also charged with attempted vehicle burglary with battery, destruction of evidence and battery. She was denied bail.

Police said Nowak drove from her home in Houston to the Orlando International Airport to confront Colleen Shipman.

Nowak believed Shipman was romantically involved with Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, a pilot during space shuttle Discovery's trip to the space station last December, police said.

Nowak told police that her relationship with Oefelein was "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to an arrest affidavit. Police officers recovered a love letter to Oefelein in her car.

NASA spokesman James Hartsfield in Houston said that, as of Monday, Nowak's status with the astronaut corps remained unchanged.

"What will happen beyond that, I will not speculate," he said.

Hartsfield said he couldn't recall the last time an astronaut was arrested and said there were no rules against fraternizing among astronauts.

When she found out that Shipman was flying to Orlando from Houston, Nowak decided to confront her, according to the arrest affidavit. Nowak raced from Houston to Orlando wearing diapers so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate, authorities said.

Astronauts wear diapers during launch and re-entry.

Dressed in a wig and a trench coat, Nowak boarded an airport bus that Shipman took to her car in an airport parking lot. Shipman told police she noticed someone following her, hurried inside the car and locked the doors, according to the arrest affidavit.

Nowak rapped on the window, tried to open the car door and asked for a ride. Shipman refused but rolled down the car window a few inches when Nowak started crying. Nowak then sprayed a chemical into Shipman's car, the affidavit said.

Shipman drove to the parking lot booth, and the police were called.

During a check of the parking lot, an officer followed Nowak and watched her throw away a bag containing the wig and BB gun. They also found a steel mallet, a 4-inch folding knife, rubber tubing, $600 and garbage bags inside a bag Nowak was carrying when she was arrested, authorities said.

Inside Nowak's vehicle, which was parked at a nearby motel, authorities uncovered a pepper spray package, an unused BB-gun cartridge, latex gloves and e-mails between Shipman and Oefelein. They also found a letter "that indicated how much Mrs. Nowak loved Mr. Oefelein," an opened package for a buck knife, Shipman's home address and hand written directions to the address, the arrest affidavit said.

Police said Nowak told them that she only wanted to scare Shipman into talking to her about her relationship with Oefelein and didn't want to harm her physically.

"If you were just going to talk to someone, I don't know that you would need a wig, a trench coat, an air cartridge BB gun and pepper spray," said Sgt. Barbara Jones, a spokeswoman for the Orlando Police Department. "It's just really a very sad case. ... Now she ends up finding herself on the other side of the law with some very serious charges."

If convicted of attempted kidnapping, Nowak could face a maximum of life in prison.

It was not immediately known whether Nowak had an attorney.

Oefelein and Shipman did not immediately return phone messages Monday night.

According to NASA's official biography, Nowak is married with three children. During her 13-day mission in July she operated the robotic arm during three spacewalks.

Oefelein is unmarried. He piloted the space shuttle Discovery in December. He has two children, according to a NASA biography.

Nowak and Oefelein were both first-time fliers during their shuttle missions last year. They trained together but never flew together.

Considering the amount of psych testing our astronauts go through, what is our present knowlege of nuts?

two comments;

1. That chick is batty. Her poor husband and kids must be going through hell.

2. when you examine her official NASA photo, it becomes apparent that she had to squeeze her head through her rubber necked space suit underwear thingy, and then apply makeup and get her hair done. She's even wearing earrings. I wonder if NASA has makeup and hair people for these photos or if she did it herself. I have no problem with people preening themselves for a publicity shot, but it just seems weird in a flight suit.

glatt;313252 wrote:

I wonder if NASA has makeup and hair people for these photos or if she did it herself.

Its a NASA thing. The effort they put into into PR shots is fairly excessive and the number they take for each mission is astounding. Shots in suits, holding models, standing together next to the airstream, in the simulator, etc, makeup and all.

I think she went nuts because her hair is awful, and huge. The other woman probably has better hair. If they spend a fortune on hair and makeup, they need to fire the hairstylist.

Just to explain here- I hate huge hair. It scares me. Long hair is fine, but when birds can nest unnoticed in there I start to get worried.

Airmen just always need a back-up plan. She just didn't trust a phone call. Or...

This case just boggles the mind. This woman has utterly, completely and totally trashed her entire life. Everything she has worked for in her career, her family, *everything*.

The list of supplies she brought with her is also rather intriguing. It reads to me as though she was prepared to forcibly interrogate and then eventually kill the other woman, and then dispose of the body (she had trash bags).

I *so* wish I was writing the book about this. I know for sure that I'll be reading it when it comes out.

I have to agree about the insanity of the Big Hair. It says a lot about a woman who, at the age of 43, is still wearing the same hair-style that she had in high school. I think this woman's hair is telling us, "I am fundamentally unable to undergo change--even if it's for the better!" In the first pic she looks bipolar.

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Brianna;313283 wrote:

In the first pic she looks bipolar.

Ya think? :neutral:

This woman wore diapers so she didn't have to stop to pee and you're entering her huge hair into evidence of insanity???
It's not even that huge... bad, but not huge...

yes, but think... we may be witnessing the first members of the 250 Mile High Club.

They must get ahold of some good meth in space.

Can I please change out of this wet diaper now?

HA!!

The astronut and her intended didn't fly together, just trained together.

However, does anyone else think it highly unlikely at this point that *someone* hasn't done the nasty in orbit by now?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070206/ap_on_re_us/astronaut_arrested_35

Apparently, the investigators came to the same conclusions that I did regarding her other acoutrements.

Well, of course they did. That's why they were detailed in the police report. What else was in the car that wasn't listed?

According to police. The only use of trash bags is to dispose of body parts.

I keep rope in my trunk. If I'm ever pulled over, the cops will probably say it's because I plan to tie up my victims. But I use it to secure cargo.

The woman is clearly nuts. And she clearly assaulted the victim. And she obviously had plans to confront her in some way. But we don't know exactly what, if anything she had planned. The trash bags could just be there for the dirty diapers.

The woman is clearly nuts. And she clearly assaulted the victim. And she obviously had plans to confront her in some way. But we don't know exactly what, if anything she had planned. The trash bags could just be there for the dirty diapers.

Although in fairness to the system, that's why she'll get a chance to explain her side to a jury.

Sure, after the press finishes nailing her coffin closed.

C'mon, glatt...if you were a cop, wouldn't you at least see a possibility of something more sinister in the items she had with her? I mean, she drove cross-country, tried to mace the gal, was wearing a disguise, and has already been charged with a couple of different forms of battery *and* kidnapping.

I'm thinking that there's probably some other clinching evidence, here, that simply hasn't been released.

I'm not finding her guilty before trial, but unless the reports are patently falsified, you gotta admit it looks less than circumstantial.

Unless...you don't suppose the alleged victim planted all that stuff in order to frame the astronut, do you? :D

it's an insult to Star Trek to connect it with this crazy caca

Elspode;313367 wrote:

C'mon, glatt...

I think cops and DAs look to find any evidence they can to nail someone once that person has appeared on their radar as a "bad guy." The press tells us about the police report, and we get one side of the story. Since the criminal system is adversarial, it is by definition a biased point of view.

I think they are reaching with their charges here.

We know:
1. She was in a jealous irrational state. (She was nuts)
2. She went to great lengths to confront this woman
3. She had a non-lethal BB gun with her. Maybe it looked like a real gun.
4. She knocked on the car window.
5. She tried to open the car door.
6. She put pepper spray in the car when the window was rolled down.
7. Her own car had a bunch of random dual use materials in it that could, under the right circumstances with a cooperative victim, be used to commit a murder.

In all those facts I see a mentally unstable woman who may need to be committed.
I also see an assault.
If there's a law about stalking or threatening a person, it has also been violated.

I don't see an attempted carjacking. She didn't want a car.

I don't know the legal definition of "kidnap" but she had no intention of kidnapping this woman in the traditional sense of the word. I don't see attempted kidnapping here.

It's possible she planned to murder the woman, but she had no deadly force with her when she confronted the woman. The closest thing she had was a BB gun that might be confused for a real gun. She did not brandish the BB gun, but she did throw it away before confronted by the police.

We don't know what was going on in this woman's head. I speculate that she was nuts, and went to confront her "rival," with the intent of saying something along the lines of "stay away from my man or I'll fucking kill you, bitch." Maybe she planned to wave the BB gun around to make her point. Clearly, I don't approve of her behavior, but calling it a murder attempt is a stretch.

Sure it's possible. I just don't think it's likely.

The Boston DA is prosecuting the lite brite dudes in Boston as terrorists. It doesn't mean they are terrorists.

Whatever the case, the chick certainly put herself in a position to have the book, and the bookshelves, thrown at her.

She threw her life away. It's sad.

Either it looked like a real gun, or she was going to rely on the "lodging under the skin and causing a nasty infection!" effect...

Man, what happens when people who are old enough to know better, not too young to care -- and still don't...

glatt;313370 wrote:

It's possible she planned to murder the woman, but she had no deadly force with her when she confronted the woman.

That folding knife with the four inch blade is considered a deadly weapon in most jurisdictions.

glatt;313373 wrote:

She threw her life away. It's sad.

The world's oldest man died last November in Cuba. What did he attribute his long life to? He never got married. And so again another example of how "Love kills".

{you won't see me wearing diapers for love}

..a rubber mask and a ball gag, but not diapers. Guy's gotta draw the line somewhere.

tw;313406 wrote:

The world's oldest man died last November in Cuba. What did he attribute his long life to? He never got married. And so again another example of how "Love kills".

Or how being the "world's oldest man" can involve dementia.

I've read of studies that suggest that people with partners live longer as a group than those without.

Elspode;313407 wrote:

..a rubber mask and a ball gag, but not diapers. Guy's gotta draw the line somewhere.

I think the diaper thing may be a hold-over from astronaut training. There are situations where you may get stuck in a flight deck seat for many hours at a time. Alan Sheperd ended up needing to pee into his space suit while waiting for launch on an early Mercury-Redstone mission; thereafter when all the astronauts were male a condom-like "urine collection device" was sufficient. These days they use a diaper.

MaggieL;313408 wrote:

I've read of studies that suggest that people with partners live longer as a group than those without.

So love kills but group love means a longer life. Ahh. So that is the secret inside Plato's Retreat.

MaggieL;313405 wrote:

That folding knife with the four inch blade is considered a deadly weapon in most jurisdictions.

Yes. It is.

But she didn't have it with her when she confronted her victim. She had a BB gun and some pepper spray.

Edit: Ah crap. I read the article wrong. I thought the knife was in the car. Nevermind.

When she found out that Shipman was flying to Orlando from Houston, Nowak decided to confront her, according to the arrest affidavit. Nowak raced from Houston to Orlando wearing diapers so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate, authorities said.

During a check of the parking lot, an officer followed Nowak and watched her throw away a bag containing the wig and BB gun. They also found a steel mallet, a 4-inch folding knife, rubber tubing, $600 and garbage bags inside a bag Nowak was carrying when she was arrested, authorities said.

Inside Nowak's vehicle, which was parked at a nearby motel, authorities uncovered a pepper spray package, an unused BB-gun cartridge, latex gloves and e-mails between Shipman and Oefelein. They also found a letter "that indicated how much Mrs. Nowak loved Mr. Oefelein," an opened package for a buck knife, Shipman's home address and hand written directions to the address, the arrest affidavit said.

So on the one hand she made a spur-of-the moment decision to "race" to Orlando, time being so tight that she didn't have time to stop and pee, and yet on the other hand she had time to get all that junk together and formulate some sort of plan -including the "oh yes it'll save time if I wear a diaper, now where did I put them" part of the scheme.

Could she have had all the stuff and the plan ready and was just waiting for an opportunity?

Or is she just completely and uttely off her rocker? In which case charges should be level at the shrinks who OK the astronauts. One rarely suddenly goes this nuts -it takes time.

Strange days.

Looking at her pic and the story, it looks like the lady is borderline maybe psychotic and for sure in dire need of medication and psychiatric treatment. A very sad case for all involved.

tw;313406 wrote:

{you won't see me wearing diapers for love}

tw;313406 wrote:

So love kills but group love means a longer life. Ahh. So that is the secret inside Plato's Retreat.

tw made two funnies in a row!

"You won't see me wearing diapers for love" would be a great sig.

I'm gonna yoink it.

glatt;313447 wrote:

Edit: Ah crap. I read the article wrong. I thought the knife was in the car. Nevermind.

Oh, and by the way, this changes my attitude almost completely. If she took a big knife like that to the confrontation, she was prepared to use deadly force in the event of an escalation. And since she was the one doing all the escalating, it's quite possible she went there intending to stab her "rival." Throw the book at her.

jinx;313309 wrote:

This woman wore diapers so she didn't have to stop to pee and you're entering her huge hair into evidence of insanity???
It's not even that huge... bad, but not huge...

Ah, but see the beauty of being able to tell if someone is insane by hairstyle only is that you can then forgo having to do a more covert and possibly intime assessment. In other words, you don't have to find out whether they are indeed wearing adult diapers.

Inquiring minds want to know...had she taken the diapers off before she was arrested? It would be hell to go to jail with diaper rash.

She was released on bail by day's end, or so read the last news report I saw.

Has anybody seen a picture of the "steel mallet"? :confused:

Maxwell's silver hammer?

Death by BB gun would sucketh much!

So if you were her, what's next? You've got the ankle bracelet, but you are free. Your husband(?) comes to pick you up. What can you possibly say at that point to him? If you were her husband, would you stand by your partner? Or kick her out of the house? If you were her, would you try to move forward or just kill yourself? Do you show up at work like nothing had happened? Will NASA put her on leave? Fire her? Find some back room job for her? She's got to know she's going to prison for some amount of time. Maybe she's hoping it will be just a couple years, and she'll come out with a shawl knitted by one of the other prisoners?

Her poor fucking family.

So many freaking questions. Inquiring minds really want to know.

I read one article that said she and her husband were separated a few weeks before this happened.

But personally, no, I couldn't get past my spouse doing this, because if they could rationalize killing someone else who got in the way of their newfound love, I would never be able to trust that they couldn't rationalize killing me too. Either way, I bet she pleads insanity.

Flint;313284 wrote:

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Ha!
Ha ha ha HA HA HA HAHAHAHAAAAAaaa!
Aaaah.

I like a good belly laugh.

She lost it... people can get past it.

Flint;313284 wrote:

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incommunicadocat;313810 wrote:

Ha!
Ha ha ha HA HA HA HAHAHAHAAAAAaaa!
Aaaah.

I like a good belly laugh.

Thanks, incommunicadocat. I think the resemblance is uncanny. btw how do you quote attached images [SIZE="4"]???[/SIZE]

Right click it, copy the image into an image selection in the new reply window.
You may also be able to do it by quoting the original message and copying the IMG.