Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/06/astronaut.arrested/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/ 06/astronaut.arrested/index.html</a> More proof that sometimes one just can't make up stuff like this and expect people to believe it. Here, a female astronaut who was just on a Shuttle mission last July is arrested on various charges including attempted kidnapping of her percieved rival for the affections of another astronaut. She made bail this morning, but the prosecutors were so upset about that they added an attempted murder charge to prevent her release. Bizarre only begins to describe these events.
Originally Posted By ecdc I'm watching this on MSNBC. She drove from Houston to Orlando wearing a diaper so she wouldn't need to stop. Wow.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder And you know, at what point during the 900 mile drive couldn't she have talked herself out of this? "Here I am, a public figure, an astronaut no less, driving across the country at breakneck speed wearing a diaper. I'm going to try and abduct another member of the armed services that I think is having a fling with another astronaut I want to mess around with. Gosh, did I mention I'm married as well to someone else and I have three kids? Did I mention I'm wearing a DIAPER"?
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I know this is no laughing matter, but I have to say I laughed out loud at #3.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 Fox Mini Series to air in May......a remake of The Reluctant Astronaut directed by Jerry Springer. you're right in every time I watch a TV show and say " who made this junk up "? - real life provides an even more bizarre scenario -- this is a stable person I want to trust my life to in orbit if I'm another astronaut - I don't think so.
Originally Posted By friendofdd It is obvious we must abandon further space exploration by humans. This is proof positive that zero gravity makes a person nuts. Also, obviously, it is all Bushes fault.
Originally Posted By Lake Nona >>She drove from Houston to Orlando wearing a diaper so she wouldn't need to stop. Wow.<< Good time to buy stock in Depends. Just wait until her military court date.
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>this is a stable person I want to trust my life to in orbit if I'm another astronaut - I don't think so.<< What is especially amazing about this is that these people go through all sorts of screening and other psychological tests. If NASA can't catch the nut jobs, what hope do schools and churches have?
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Shades of Nick Nolte... Nowak's Astronaut Photo: <a href="http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/US/02/06/astronaut.arrested/vert.nowak.nasa.jpg" target="_blank">http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/US /02/06/astronaut.arrested/vert.nowak.nasa.jpg</a> Nowak's Mug Shot: <a href="http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/US/02/06/astronaut.arrested/vert.nowak.booking.jpg" target="_blank">http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/US /02/06/astronaut.arrested/vert.nowak.booking.jpg</a> If you are going to get arrested... PLEASE, try to do your hair first...
Originally Posted By DAR <<If you are going to get arrested... PLEASE, try to do your hair first...>> No that just adds to the crazy.
Originally Posted By melekalikimaka <<If you are going to get arrested... PLEASE, try to do your hair first...>> Be fair. The woman probably has a painful diaper rash.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I was just about to say - that picture looks like... "The Depends, um, didn't really work."
Originally Posted By Lisann22 I mean just her last name along is comical to the situation. No - wak LMAO! Astronaut Nowak's... Favorite book - Men are from Mars, Women from Venus Favorite Band - Air Supply Favorite Song - Fly Me To The Moon
Originally Posted By Lake Nona Breaking news...Nowak out on bail...and a electronic tracking device. From Flordia Today... A NASA astronaut was released from jail on $25,500 bond this evening after prosecutors say she plotted to kidnap and kill a Cape Canaveral woman she saw as a rival for another astronaut's attention. Police say Lisa Marie Nowak drove 12 hours straight from Houston to Florida, wearing diapers to avoid stopping for restroom breaks, so she could catch Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman at the Orlando airport and confront her about her relationship with space shuttle pilot William Oefelein. Donning a wig and trench coat to disguise herself, police say Nowak followed Shipman from the airport to a dark parking lot. Officers say Nowak rushed the woman's car, tried to get inside and attacked her with pepper spray before Shipman sped away to find help. They say they saw Nowak try to throw out a bag containing the wig and trench coat as well as a BB pistol, steel mallet, 4-inch knife, rubber tubes and several plastic garbage bags among other things. Orlando police first said that they suspected Nowak planned to attack and maybe kidnap the woman. Authorities charged the 43-year old Navy captain with attempted kidnapping, attempted burglary of a vehicle, battery and destruction of evidence. However, when a judge decided this morning to let Nowak out of jail on bond pending a trial, Orlando police filed an additional charge of attempted murder just before she was to be released. At a 4 p.m. hearing, defense attorneys argued that police were acting inappropriately to add charges without adding any new evidence in an effort simply to keep Nowak in jail, even though the judge ordered her release earlier today. The judge ultimately decided to increase the bail to $25,500 and let her go until trial. In a separate court filing Monday, after the parking lot incident, Shipman sought a restraining order and said Nowak has been stalking her for two months. Shipman also said Nowak was using government resources and computers to investigate information, including her flight information, in order to aid her stalking and Monday's attack. Nowak, 43, told police she only planned to "entice" Shipman to talk with her about astronaut Oefelein, with whom she said both women had relationships. During a morning court hearing, prosecutors said that Nowak and Shipman were apparent rivals for Oefelein’s affections.Yet the two had never met each other before Monday, according to court testimony today. However, prosecutors said that once Nowak learned of Shipman’s relationship with Oefelein, she carefully and meticulously planned her encounter with her rival, prosecutor Amanda Cowan said. Armed with Google maps to the airport and Shipman's Cape Canaveral home as well as e-mailed love letters between the three, Nowak drove all day and night to Florida. The circumstances of the confrontation, combined with other items police saw her dump in the parking lot and material found in a search of her car, painted a picture more sinister than what Nowak described to officers after her arrest. “The state would say there’s probable cause,†Cowan said. The police and prosecutor wanted Nowak held without bond, saying there was strong evidence she carefully planned her actions, enough to support a life sentence. When a listless Nowak heard that, she snapped her slumping head to attention. Her lawyer, Donald Lykkebak, said the facts would only suport a charge of battery, and “with a stretch this alleged vehicle battery.†“I fail to see any attempt to kidnap,†Lykkebak said. “What these facts do give rise to is a battery and an attempt to speak to someone in their vehicle.†He said it was a leap of the imagination for the arresting officers to suggest anything stronger than that. Given her service to career and country, and her lack of a prior criminal history, Lykkebak said, she should be released. “At times like this, one’s good works must count for something.†Helping Nowak's case for release was Steve Lindsey, a U.S. Air Force colonel who was the commander of Nowak's July mission and is now head of the NASA's astronaut corps. Lindsey testified in support of the defense's contention that Nowak posed no threat to Shipman if released. Lindsey testified Nowak and Shipman were strangers to each other before Monday. He also said that they didn’t work together and that Shipman was not associated with the shuttle program. “They didn’t know each other prior to this,†Lykkebak reiterated. Lindsey assured the court that Nowak and Shipman would not be running into each other and that wearing an electronic monitor would not interfere with Nowak’s duties. “She has no reason to be at Patrick or at KSC if that’s what the court rules,†Lindsey said. Just as Nowak was about to be released, however, concerned Orlando police added another charge: attempted murder. That kept Nowak behind bars for several more hours. She was to be released Tuesday afternoon or evening, once paperwork was completed. Orange County Judge Michael Murphy found probable cause on the charges of attempted kidnapping, attempted burglary of a vehicle and battery, but not destruction of evidence. He set bail at $15,500 and was ready to let Nowak out of jail under conditions that she not come in contact with Shipman or even travel east of Orange County. The judge went on to order Nowak, when released, to wear an electronic tracking device so police would know where she was at any time. “No contact means no contact, directly or indirectly. That means no sending flowers to say you’re sorry,†the judge said. The Monday morning incident became national news late Monday evening, when Orlando police released a detailed affidavit outlining the bizarre parking lot attack. According to the police account, when Shipman arrived at the airport on a flight from Houston about 1 a.m., Nowak followed Shipman to her car in the long-term parking lot. Once there, police say the disguised Nowak rushed Shipman's car and began pounding on the window. When Shipman, an engineer for the 45th Launch Support Squadron at Patrick since May 2005, would not open the car door, Nowak burst into tears. Shipman rolled the window down about two inches, and Nowak "sprayed some type of chemical spray" into the vehicle, police reports said. Shipman drove away and called police. As Orlando police arrived, officers say they saw Nowak place a black bag into a garbage can. Inside the bag they found a wig, trench coat, a BB pistol, a new steel mallet, a new folding knife with a 4-inch blade, three to four feet of rubber tubing, several plastic garbage bags and about $600 in cash. Also in the bag was a handwritten list of those items. Police later searched Nowak's car, which was parked at the La Quinta Inn about two miles from the airport. In the car, they said they found six latex gloves, directions from Houston to the Orlando airport, e-mails from Shipman to Ofelein, a love letter from Nowak to Ofelein and handwritten directions to Shipman's house in Cape Canaveral. Nowak told police she was "involved in a relationship" with Oefelein. She categorized it as "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to the police report. Nowak is still employed as an astronaut, NASA spokesman Allard Beutel said Monday night. "Anything beyond that is just speculation," he said. A married mother of three, Nowak flew her first mission into space in July, serving as a mission specialist. She is considered an expert shuttle robot arm operator, and logged 13 days in space during a mission that launched on the Fourth of July. A U.S. Navy captain, Nowak was selected to NASA's astronaut corps in 1996 after serving as a military test pilot. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Nowak has logged more than 1,500 hours in 30 aircraft. Oefelein, 41 and the father of two, piloted Discovery on a 13-day International Space Station assembly flight in December. From window perches inside the shuttle and the station, he orchestrated four spacewalks during one of the most complex outpost construction missions to date. Nicknamed "Billy O," Oefelein, a U.S. Navy commander, came to NASA in 1998. Eileen Hawley, a spokeswoman for NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and the wife of NASA astronaut Steve Hawley, said that she could not recall another incident in which a U.S. astronaut was arrested on felony charges. "It's too early to speculate on what actions we'll take, but now her status with us is unchanged," she said Monday night. "This is clearly going to be a very personal, tragic and unfortunate event, but we'll do what we can to help with her physical and emotional well-being. But that's about all we can do at this point." Patrick Peterson, Todd Halvorson, Megan Downs, Steve Arnold, Craig Bailey and Jeff Schweers also contributed to this report. Weather 58°F
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>She is considered an expert shuttle robot arm operator<< That's pretty hot.
