Astronaut Kidnapping Plan

Go Figure

Check out this news:

An astronaut drove 900 miles and donned a wig and trench coat to confront a woman she believed was her rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot, US police said.
She was arrested yesterday and charged with attempted kidnapping and other counts.

US navy captain 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 Ms Nowak drove from her home in Houston to Orlando international airport - wearing nappies so she would not have to stop to urinate - to confront Colleen Shipman.

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

Ms Nowak told police that her relationship with Mr 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 Mr Oefelein in her car.

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

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

Mr Hartsfield said he could not recall the last time an astronaut was arrested and said there were no rules against fraternising among astronauts.

When she found out that Ms Shipman was flying to Orlando from Houston, Ms Nowak decided to confront her, according to the arrest affidavit. Ms Nowak raced from Houston to Orlando wearing nappies so she would not have to stop to urinate, authorities said.

Astronauts wear nappies during launch and re-entry.

Ms Nowak, in disguise, boarded an airport bus that Ms Shipman took to her car in an airport car park. Ms Shipman told police she noticed someone following her, hurried inside the car and locked the doors, according to the arrest affidavit.

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

Ms Shipman drove to the car park booth, and the police were called.

During a check of the car park, an officer followed Ms Nowak and watched her throw away a bag containing the wig and air rifle. They also found a steel mallet, a 10cm folding knife, rubber tubing, $600 (£305) and bin bags inside a bag Ms Nowak was carrying when she was arrested, authorities said.

Inside Ms Nowak's vehicle, which was parked at a nearby motel, authorities uncovered a pepper spray package, an unused BB-gun cartridge, latex gloves and emails between Ms Shipman and Mr Oefelein.

They also found a letter "that indicated how much Ms 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 Ms Nowak told them that she only wanted to scare Ms Shipman into talking to her about her relationship with Mr 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 Sergeant 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, Ms Nowak could face a maximum of life in prison.

It was not immediately known whether Ms Nowak had an attorney.

Mr Oefelein and Ms Shipman did not immediately return phone messages last night.

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

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

Ms Nowak and Mr Oefelein were both first-time fliers during their shuttle missions last year. They trained together but never flew on the same mission.

Pretty self-explanatory, I guess.
Talk about all the 'Wrong Stuff'.

UPDATE: We're not learning anything new, but the headline from the Melbourne Herald Sun screamed: "Lust In Space", with this captioned picture:

It's all over the news this morning, which I guess is yet another embarrassment for NASA. Only 8months ago, Captain Nowak was a hero for being part of the first crew to head back to Orbit in the Space Shuttle. How things can change in life so quickly!