Ryan sez, “Lisa Marie Nowak, Astronaut, drove all night from Houston to Orlando, wearing diapers do she would not have to stop, to kidnap her rival for the affections of another Astronaut. She was caught at MCO 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.”
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.
Update: Nowak’s defense sez,
STATEMENT REGARDING THE STATUS OF LISA NOWAK
The following is a statement from Michael Coats, director of NASA’s
Johnson Space Center in Houston, regarding the status of astronaut
Lisa Nowak.“We are deeply saddened by this tragic event. The charges against Lisa
Nowak are serious ones that must be decided by the judicial system.
She is officially on 30-day leave and has been removed from flight
status and all mission-related activities. We will continue to
monitor developments in the case.”