Just when you thought people couldn't possibly get more stupid...

Zaphod

10-Year Member
Founding Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2006
Messages
2,925
...along comes this little gem. Check out the part in red:

Space Shuttle Astronaut Arrested

Space shuttle astronaut arrested at OIA on attempted kidnapping, battery charges

Henry Pierson Curtis | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted February 5, 2007, 9:50 PM EST

A NASA astronaut is being held without bail after police say she attacked her rival for another astronaut's attention at Orlando International Airport Monday.

Lisa Marie Nowak drove more than 12 hours from Texas to meet the 1 a.m. flight of a younger woman who had also been seeing the astronaut Nowak pined for, according to Orlando police.

Nowak -- who was a mission specialist on a Discovery launch last summer -- was wearing a trench coat and wig and had a knife, BB pistol, and latex gloves in her car, reports show. They also found diapers, which Nowak said she used so she wouldn't have to stop on the 1,000-mile drive. Reports show that after U.S. Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman's flight arrived, Nowak followed her to the airport's Blue Lot for long-term parking, tried to get into Shipman's car and then doused her with pepper spray.

Nowak, 43, is charged with attempted kidnapping, battery, attempted vehicle burglary with battery and destruction of evidence. Police considered her such a danger that they requested she be held without bail in the Orange County Jail, reports show.

A married mother of three, Nowak told police that she was "involved in a relationship with," Bill Oefelein, another NASA astronaut, which she categorized as "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to the charging affidavit.

Oefelein, who piloted the most recent shuttle Discovery flight in December, could not be reached Monday night at home in Houston.

She found out Oefelein was involved with Shipman and planned a trip to Orlando to talk to Shipman about their relationships with Oefelein, reports show. She also told police the BB gun "was going to be used to entice Ms. Shipman to talk with her."

Shipman, an engineer assigned to the 45th Launch Support Squadron at Patrick Air Force base near the Kennedy Space Center, told police she was flying home from Houston. She could not be reached for comment Monday night at her home near Port Canaveral.

Shipman told police that after waiting two hours to get her luggage, she noticed a woman in a trench coat waiting near the airport taxi stand. When Shipman boarded a shuttle bus to long-term parking, the woman followed, according to police.

When Shipman got into her car in the Blue lot on Cargo Road, reports show, she heard "running footsteps" coming toward her. Nowak tried to open the car door, then claimed she needed a ride, or use of a cell phone.

"No. If you need help, I'll send someone to help you," Shipman responded, reports show.

Nowak claimed she could not hear and started to cry.

"Ms. Shipman rolled her window down about 2 inches, so Mrs. Nowak could hear her... Mrs. Nowak sprayed some type of chemical spray into the vehicle, at Ms. Shipman's face," a detective wrote.

Shipman sped away to the parking lot's toll booth, where she asked a parking employee to call police.

The first officer to reach the Blue lot, saw the suspect drop something black into a trash can at one of the parking shuttle stops. Within minutes, Shipman identified Nowak as her attacker.

A steel mallet, several feet of rubber tubing and hand-written directions to Shipman's home were recovered from Nowak's car, which was parked at a nearby LaQuinta Inn, reports show.

Picked up shortly before 4 a.m., Nowak was questioned until about 5 p.m. when police took her to the county jail.

Her arrest may be the first-ever felony charges filed on an active-duty astronaut, according to the space agency.

"Her status as an astronaut with NASA is currently unchanged. I cannot speculate on what might happen beyond that," said James Hartsfield, a NASA spokesman at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where Nowak and Oefelein work.

Nowak's biography shows she is a 1985 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis with a degree in aerospace engineering, and a former test pilot who has logged more than 1,500 hours of flight in at least 30 types of aircraft.

She joined the space program in 1996. Three members of her astronaut class died in the 2003 shuttle Columbia disaster.

A Navy captain � the equivalent of a colonel � Nowak flew aboard last summer's 12-day flight to re-supply the International Space Station and test safety features and repair techniques. She has the distinction of being the first Italian-American woman in space.

"A lot of my training is what you might think of as a Flight Engineer on ascent and entry," she said in a pre-flight interview on the NASA Web site. "I sit behind and between the pilot and commander and help coordinate things and keep the big picture."

A Navy commander, Oefelein is a former test pilot who attended TOPGUN, the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School. He has flown more 3,000 hours in more than 50 types of aircraft, including over 200 carrier landings, according to NASA.

A father of two children, Oefelein enjoys fishing, hiking and snowboarding, according to his NASA biography. In December, Oefelein, 41, logged about 308 hours in space.

"First, the launch was 10 times more exciting than I thought!!" Oefelein wrote Dec. 16 in his blog from space to schoolchildren in Alaska. "Space is fun! I quickly adapted to the zero gravity and have had no problems eating or sleeping. It's fun to eat 'upside down' and sleep on the ceiling."

nowak.jpg


Okay, so let me see if I've got this straight...

USNA grad, aerospace engineering, married, 3 kids, Navy Captain, veteran astronaut, and attractive (well, she WAS).......... and she throws it all away over a MAN? :confused:

I'm sorry, but the mind just boggles.

I'd gnaw one of my own legs off for the mere chance to be an astronaut, and this pinhead goes and pulls this stunt. I'm telling you, life just isn't fair. :mad:
 
Last edited:
Let's see the guy Oefelein was burning the candle at both ends. Seems he enjoyed the life of "right stuff". Lord knows I have met enough of these type of guys in fighter sqs, they all think they are Tom Cruise cause they wear a flight suit.

The 0-6 gives women a bad name, stupid going after a guy in a bag:bang:
I'm married to a guy in a bag, they are just normal men (stupid, stubborn, nerdy, handy and make you want to kill them/yourself). Why is it that people always think the grass is always greener. And her kids have to live with what she did, it was on the DC news cause she from Maryland.
 
justawife said:
Let's see the guy Oefelein was burning the candle at both ends. Seems he enjoyed the life of "right stuff". Lord knows I have met enough of these type of guys in fighter sqs, they all think they are Tom Cruise cause they wear a flight suit.

Sure. Blame the single guy, not the married woman. I may be leaping to some giant conclusions here but it appears that she was the one acting just a bit out of line.

The article states that she is an Italian-American. I am sure that was relevant.:shake:

"A father of two children, Oefelein enjoys fishing, hiking and snowboarding, according to his NASA biography." Obviously his biography is incomplete.:biggrin:

Just when one thinks they know everything, first the groundhog in a tree and now diapers for long trips. I think I just cut down the ski trips to Snowshoe by at least a half hour. Only problem, if I drive up in the morning and go straight to the slopes, what does skiing in a frozen diaper feel like? Probably something akin to WP's "coldern a witch's bosom in a brass boustier".

justawife, since I think I am a normal guy and once wore a "bag", it is going to take me a while to digest this one:

"they are just normal men (stupid, stubborn, nerdy, handy and make you want to kill them/yourself"

It will probably take me all morning to get through "normal" and then the rest of the day with "stuipid". More to follow on this one. My first big hurdle is, can a "normal" guy who once wore a "bag" who is not involved in the space shuttle program wear a diaper to go skiing?
 
Last edited:
Don't we have an 85 grad lurking around these parts???? I hope she didn't take a trip to florida recently :biggrin:

This is insane, she has obviously had some sort of psychotic breakdown, there is no way a person in their right mind would do something like this.

Anybody want to be an astronaut? Looks like they'll be taking applications soon :)
 
She is from Rockville; story was on every 10 minutes here and on Good Morning America, too. Oh she was wrong, but he was too. Lets see messing around with a married woman.

Come on all astronaut wear diapers --remember in the right stuff, it started after the famous "I got to go". No piddle packs for them and don't leave that in the cockpit for your crew chief (bad form).


As to the line about men, let see men can be stupid. Buy a sports car at 40 something, get speeding tickets. Back sports car out and into wall and try to hide it from your wife, and then claim there is no damage to the car. First child is 3 months old can not remember their middle name. I could go on and on this subject.

Stubborn, the best one on for this is, did our first load of laundry as a couple a few years out of the academy. Folded his underwear and it wasn't the he liked. So for the last 20 plus years he has done the laundry so he can fold things the "academy" way. OK, he is a neat freak too.

Nerdy using dollar words when a 25 cent will do. Sometimes I know he does this to make others question their intellect (especially the SES he worked for). He gets this from going to Harvard and putting the Harvard Magazine in his office on the table coffee (the best part of that mag. is the personal ads--lots of snobs and gold diggers lol).

Handy, he can open a pickle jar really well and does pull weeds out the garden. :thumb:

Kill him/myself, Daughter comes home from college hasn't live at home in years -yells at her for hanging her coat on "his" hook.

Ask your spouse I am SURE they have at least one story that you define you too.

OK I am harsh, but he does his best most of the time.
 
justawife said:
As to the line about men, let see men can be stupid. Buy a sports car at 40 something, get speeding tickets. Back sports car out and into wall and try to hide it from your wife, and then claim there is no damage to the car. First child is 3 months old can not remember their middle name. I could go on and on this subject.

Stubborn, the best one on for this is, did our first load of laundry as a couple a few years out of the academy. Folded his underwear and it wasn't the he liked. So for the last 20 plus years he has done the laundry so he can fold things the "academy" way. OK, he is a neat freak too.

Nerdy using dollar words when a 25 cent will do. Sometimes I know he does this to make others question their intellect (especially the SES he worked for). He gets this from going to Harvard and putting the Harvard Magazine in his office on the table coffee (the best part of that mag. is the personal ads--lots of snobs and gold diggers lol).

Handy, he can open a pickle jar really well and does pull weeds out the garden. :thumb:

Kill him/myself, Daughter comes home from college hasn't live at home in years -yells at her for hanging her coat on "his" hook.

It makes perfect sense now. Halfway through, I realized he was Air Farce and then I got to the ROTC bit. Now I understand. Us USNA Navy "bag" guys are warm, compassionate, understanding, and cuddly. Incidentially, bag must be an Air Force antonym (or is the word I am looking for, synonym-never could keep those dollar words straight). Never heard it before this AM. Naval Aviators "in the bag" was a whole different connotation.

justawife said:
Ask your spouse I am SURE they have at least one story that you define you too.

I don't know how to get in touch with either of them.

I also don't understand why I am already getting emails quoting your "stupid" comment.

Gotta go. Cleaning the garage and my Porsche is sitting out in the weather.
 
Last edited:
A married mother of three, Nowak told police that she was "involved in a relationship with," Bill Oefelein, another NASA astronaut, which she categorized as "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to the charging affidavit.

The Secret Admirer is no longer secret. I guess her next job won't be with one of the intelligence agencies.
 
Wow. That woman went nuts! I woulda ran her & her diaper over with my car had she sprayed me with the pepper spray. I'm the one with the sports car. *evil grin*

Justawife, I think I can relate..... Wonder how far down the chain engineers are from guys in bags.....
 
Since we've wandered off to the use of dollar words I'd like to point out that (cough) irregardless is a word that is considered non-standard. That means just use plain old regardless because it actually means the same thing and is considered a respectable word in the English language.


I'm a home girl from da hood and if I been learned it right you can too.:wink:
 
sealion said:
Since we've wandered off to the use of dollar words I'd like to point out that (cough) irregardless is a word that is considered non-standard. That means just use plain old regardless because it actually means the same thing and is considered a respectable word in the English language.


I'm a home girl from da hood and if I been learned it right you can too.:wink:

Irregardless, non standard doesn't mean we cannot use it.

Besides, my 1964 Funk & Wagnells considers it nonstandard. My 2004 states that it is either non-standard or humorous. I am going to start using "irregardless" in lieu of smiley faces since I can never find them anyway.

OBTW, are you trying to hijack a perfectly serious legitimate thread? "Irregardless"
 
Last edited:
Sealion - I got your back on this one. Navy guys apparantly have fragile egos.

Justawife - you crack me up. You sound just like my mother! My dad is a retired AF Aviator, they have been married 54 years!

In any case - this is certainly a tragic story and most certainly a tragic end to her career. Sounds like she is suffering from a psychotic episode. If that is true better for her to have it one the ground than in space.
 
Just doin' my tiny little part for this great country. Wish I had thought of your argument when I squared off w/ my 10th grade biology sista.

Anyway, I didn't single you out. It was just an opportunistic moment to help my fellow Americans especially those w/ service connections.

Think of this though, irregardless doesn't exactly roll off the tongue and it's implied humor is rarely understood.

Give your loved ones a Valentine's present and throw regardless around. See what happens... be flexible...it could be amazing.

JAM...you be too cool.

I apologize for hijacking the thread...resume pounding errant astronaut.:thumb:
 
Don't we have an 85 grad lurking around these parts???? I hope she didn't take a trip to florida recently

OK, time to surface. :frown: I don't watch the news that much so didn't hear about this until this a.m.

First, yes she was one of my classmates. Given that there were only 76 women in our class at graduation, we all "knew" each other (i.e., by sight, to speak, etc.). However, she & I were in different regiments, had different majors & interests, & thus I didn't know her other than to say hello. Haven't seen her since USNA days. A classmate, not a personal friend.

And, yes, since you ask, I was in Orlando 3 wks ago! My first time ever. But I was taking a break after my father's death and before a work-related event, not tracking down some wannabe lover's other girlfriend.

This is insane, she has obviously had some sort of psychotic breakdown, there is no way a person in their right mind would do something like this.

Again, I don't know her personally so can't comment from that perspective. And I'm not a shrink or an expert on mental illness. However, she was (hopefully) in her right mind a few months ago when flying into space. Many of us don't think clearly when we're in love. Some people end up killing in the name of love (or hate). At what point does meanness end and mental illness begin? Not for me to say.

It's a very sad incident on so many levels. Here is yet another case of someone who apparently had it all -- smarts, looks, marriage & kids, great career, etc. and who will now forever be remembered for this. Not saying she doesn't deserve this, but it's still sad. Sad for many but, most of all, for her kids.

Anybody want to be an astronaut? Looks like they'll be taking applications soon :)

She was an astronaut for 10 yrs before flying into space. This isn't unusual BTW. What do all these men & women do all day, all week, all month for 10 yrs. There's training -- but find me someone who needs to train for 10 yrs before actually performing their job. IMO, way too many astronauts -- it's a PR thing -- until now, at least.

BTW, note to all, never, ever ever talk to the cops w/o your lawyer present. Not smart. At all.
 
Just_A_Mom said:
Sealion - I got your back on this one. Navy guys apparantly have fragile egos.

That comment could not have been directed at me. Irregardless, I was just pointing out that it was okay for humorous usage. If, by some slim chance, it was directed at me, you ain't seen nuthin yet. Your 10th grade biology teacher was a pussycat. "Irregardless"

Just_A_Mom said:
My dad is a retired AF Aviator
Another wannabe. AF and Army have pilots. Navy, CG, and USMC have Aviators. Irregardless, at least you properly captialized it.

See the following for the difference between the two:

http://www.keepingapace.com/blogarchives/navy/air_force_pilot_or_naval_aviator.php

On the above link, I have to go to maxamize screen to make it show up.

And remember, the bar which he mentions is in Singapore.
 
Last edited:
usna1985 said:
BTW, note to all, never, ever ever talk to the cops w/o your lawyer present. Not smart. At all.

Spoken like a lawyer!

Oh, wait! :yllol:
 
And never give the police permission to search your car or your house. Make them get a warrant or force them to use one of the exceptions.

Here's an example: You get stopped for a traffic violation. Policeman asks to search your car. You, knowing there's nothing in it to incriminate you, say go ahead. One of three things can happen.

(1) There isn't anything there and you go on your merry way with your traffic ticket.

(2) Someone (family member, friend, valet) has used your car and left inside something incriminating that you didn't know about. Now, you're stuck b/c it's now your problem.

(3) You run into a corrupt policeman/woman who plants something in your car.

Thus, a 2/3 chance of something bad happening. Most people, BTW, don't realize that they don't have to consent to a search (absent a warrant, which isn't consensual). But you don't and shouldn't even if you're innocent as the wind-driven snow. You also never have to talk to government agents who appear at your home or place of work.

I'm sure that Lisa Nowak will regret talking to the cops in her state of mind and after driving for 14 hrs. I can guarantee you that nothing she said will help her defense. There's a reason they say "can and will be used AGAINST you in a court of law." Even they know it's not going to be good.

And, now, back to your regularly scheduled programming. :biggrin:
 
then I got to the ROTC bit

ROTC were did I say that. He went to Harvard after the academy.

The bag reference comes from flights suits, they have large zippers that look like gym bags, hence bags.

Well the news just said Nowak was also charged with attempted murder. Feel for her kids this story has been on all national outlets.
 
Back
Top