February 06, 2007
Lisa Nowak, NASA Astronaut, Charged with Attempted Kidnapping
Lisa Nowak, a 43 year-old Navy Captain and NASA Astronaut, who last flew a shuttle mission on STS-121 (the second return to flight mission) has been charged with attempted kidnapping. Lisa Nowak drove from Houston, Texas to Orlando's International Airport in Florida (wearing a diaper according to The Register and the BBC so that she wouldn't have to stop) so that she could confront a fellow astronaut, Colleen Shipman. What could have been so important for one astronaut to drive 1,000 miles to talk to another astronaut? A guy.
Lisa Nowak thought Colleen Shipman was romantically involved with William Oefelein, another astronaut. Apparently, Oefelein was what we like to call a player, either that or Nowak is just nuts (which is probably the more likely of the two). When Nowak was asked about her relationship with Oefelein she said, "[It is] more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship." So how did it all go down?
Nowak found out Shipman was flying into Orlando so she donned her diaper and drove from Houston to meet up with Shipman at the airport. Upon arriving at the airport Nowak dawned a wig and a trenchcoat to disguise herself, according to Fox News. She tracked down Shipman who was getting on a bus to take her to her car. Shipman has pretty good situational awareness, because she noticed someone was following her and bolted to her car where she locked the doors.
Lisa Nowak, who is obviously off her rocker, didn't like the fact she could no longer kidnap Colleen Shipman so Nowak did what any failed kidnapper would do and attack. Nowak started beating on the window, asking for a ride, asked for a cell phone, and then started crying. When Shipman cracked the window to tell her no, Lisa Nowak sprayed pepper spray (or a similar chemical) into Shipman's car. Shipman sped off to the parking lot's attendant booth where police were called.
A search of Lisa Nowak's car, which was at a nearby motel, turned up pepper spray, a BB-gun, latex gloves and e-mails traffic between Colleen Shipman and William Oefelein, a knife, rubber tubing, $600 in cash, steel hammer, and garbage bags. According to The Register, "Nowak claims she only wanted to scare Shipman and confront her about her relationship with Oefelein." That's one hell of a way to make an impression. I could do quite a bit of torture with those supplies.
Lisa Nowak, who is married with three children, is being charged with attempted kidnapping, attempted vehicle burglary with battery, and destruction of evidence and battery. If convicted on the attempted kidnapping charge Nowak could face up to life in prison. This is the first such incident for NASA and there are no rules about fraternization amongst astronauts.
Originally Written for Lockergnome and cross-posted on Conservative Thinking
