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

Sаbine

Electoral Member
Jan 11, 2007
119
1
18
ASTRONAUT LISA M. NOWAK

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

A NASA astronaut is charged with attacking her rival for another astronaut's attention early Monday at Orlando International Airport, the Orlando Sentinel has learned. Lisa Marie Nowak drove from Texas to meet the 1 a.m. flight of a younger woman who had also been seeing the male astronaut Nowak pined for, according to Orlando police. Nowak -- who was a mission specialist on a Discovery launch last summer -- was wearing a trench coat and wig and had a knife, BB pistol, rubber tubing and plastic bags, reports show. Once U.S. Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman arrived, Nowak followed her to the airport's Blue Lot for long-term parking, tried to get into Shipman's car and doused her with pepper spray, according to reports.



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 told police that she was "involved in a relationship with," Bill Oefelein another NASA astronaut, and categorized the relationship as "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to the charging affidavit. Nowak told police that she found out Oefelein was involved with Shipman and planned a trip to Orlando to talk to Shipman about their relationships with Oefelein. She told police the BB gun "was going to be used to entice Ms. Shipman to talk with her," the affidavit said.

Shipman told police that when she arrived at the airport and was waiting for the airport satellite parking shuttle, she noticed a woman wearing a trench coat near the taxi stand. The woman boarded the bus after Shipman, according to police, and followed her to Shipman's car. When Shipman got into her car, 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. When Shipman rolled down her window a couple of inches, Nowak "sprayed some type of chemical spray into the vehicle," reports show. Shipman is an engineer assigned to the 45th Launch Support Squadron at Patrick Air Force base, near the Kennedy Space Center. A 2002 graduate of Penn State University, she began working at Cape Canaveral in May, 2005, according to air base Public Affairs Officer Ken Warren.

Police said that along with the weapons and other items in Nowak's car, they found e-mails from Shipman to Oefelein, Mapquest directions from Houston to the Orlando airport, and diapers, which Nowak told police she used so she wouldn't have to stop on the drive. Monday's arrest is the first-ever on felony charges for an active-duty astronaut, that the space agency was aware of, according to a spokesman.​
 

tamarin

House Member
Jun 12, 2006
3,197
22
38
Oshawa ON
Looks like she's due for some sensitivity training! If she was up here she'd soon be hired by the provincial government to go around and speak to kids at public schools about anger management. There's bucks in being a bad ass.