| A NASA astronaut is free on bail but she has to wear a monitoring device after being charged with attempted attack in a case allegedly involving a possible romantic rival.
Nowak became an astronaut after winning a series of Navy service awards. She had flown on the shuttle Discovery, and is a mother of three children. She said in a September interview with Ladies Home Journal that her husband, Richard, "works in Mission Control, so he's part of the whole space business, too. And supportive also."
This week after police arrested her for allegedly trying to kidnap a woman she believed was her rival for the affections of astronaut William Oefelein.
"Perplexed is the word that I'm sticking with," said astronaut Chris Ferguson, who attended Nowak's bail hearing in Orlando with chief astronaut Steve Lindsey.
NASA put Nowak on a 30-day leave and removed her from mission activities.
Astronauts Nowak and Oefelein, who both live in the Houston area, had trained together as astronauts, but never flew into space together. Shipman works at Patrick Air Force Base near Kennedy Space Center. Details of Oefelein's relationships with the women were unclear.
Earlier, Nowak was quoted by police as saying she and Oefelein had something "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship."
Oefelein, a 41-year-old Navy commander, piloted a Discovery mission in December to the space station where astronauts rewired the outpost, installed a new $11 million section and dropped off a new American crew member. |
US Astronaut Lisa Nowak was arrested after she attacked the woman she thought was involved with her lover astronaut Bill Oefelein.
Nowak told the police she and Oefelein had something
"more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship." We, common people, call it "marriage".
