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2007-02-06 -Lurid Crime Tales-
YJCMTSU: Astronaut Arrested For Attempted Kidnapping....
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Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2007-02-06 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11134 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 ...a trench coat and wig and had a knife, BB pistol, and latex gloves...A steel mallet, several feet of rubber tubing and hand-written directions...

Boy, does this have Made For TV Movie written all over it. Working title: Trailer Trash Ass-tronauts
Posted by SteveS 2007-02-06 00:25||   2007-02-06 00:25|| Front Page Top

#2 I should not say this, but ROFLMAO!!!!!This is el bizarro!!!! The BB pistol.....I don't get it, other than it may be a larger caliber look alike.
Posted by Alaska Paul">Alaska Paul  2007-02-06 00:36||   2007-02-06 00:36|| Front Page Top

#3 Are there Texas cheerleaders involved too?
Posted by Eric Jablow">Eric Jablow  2007-02-06 00:46||   2007-02-06 00:46|| Front Page Top

#4 Lisa Marie Nowak


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

does this mean they swapped used diapers?

They also found diapers, which Nowak said she used so she wouldn't have to stop on the 1,000-mile drive..
***

Lisa Marie Nowak, "How 'bout a nice trip to MARS with me RD"?

Lisa, I'll get back to you on that!

/OMG
Posted by RD 2007-02-06 00:53||   2007-02-06 00:53|| Front Page Top

#5 Iff I'm reading it correctly, Ofelelein was having an affair with two women not his wife, said affair(s) has now becoming public. Can anyone say, "Conduct unbecoming a Commissioned Officer(s)", or "Conduct detrimental to Uniformed/National Service".
Posted by JosephMendiola 2007-02-06 00:57||   2007-02-06 00:57|| Front Page Top

#6 You can put a fork in NASA, they're done. This sinister farce has no bearing on NASA's plans but it is a PR disaster of epic proportions for an agency that runs on PR.

Their grandiose Constellation Program (the last word in 1960s ballistic missile technology) will be superceded by events before it ever leaves the ground. Once private sector space ventures return a real profit, and are seen to do so, they will grow by leaps and bounds.
This will ultimately yield a family of re-usable orbital vehicles that will leave NASA's money-sucking white elephants stuck on the pad for lack of funds or interest.
Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2007-02-06 01:56||   2007-02-06 01:56|| Front Page Top

#7 Nowak -- who was a mission specialist Lunar Coupler on a Discovery launch last summer...
Posted by Besoeker 2007-02-06 05:17||   2007-02-06 05:17|| Front Page Top

#8 Anyone wanna bet that frantic negotions with The Jerry Springer Show aren't taking place, even as we speak?
Posted by Dave D.">Dave D.  2007-02-06 06:25||   2007-02-06 06:25|| Front Page Top

#9 Can you say "space case?"
Posted by Mike 2007-02-06 06:34||   2007-02-06 06:34|| Front Page Top

#10 Nowak told police that she found out Oefelein was involved with Shipman and planned a trip to Orlando to talk to Shipman about their relationships with Oefelein. She told police the BB gun "was going to be used to entice Ms. Shipman to talk with her," the affidavit said.

Shipman, wherever you are, you's got some 'splainin' to doo!
Posted by BA 2007-02-06 08:59||   2007-02-06 08:59|| Front Page Top

#11 What happens in orbit, stays in orbit.

"Wanna see my missle?"

Post-flight insertion in 10, 9, 8. . . .

Aero Engineers gone wild!

Pure.comedy.gold.

All joking aside, I hope some flight surgeon somewhere is getting crucified over a psychological evaluation that resulted in a "cleared for flight" status.

Posted by GORT 2007-02-06 09:30||   2007-02-06 09:30|| Front Page Top

#12 The New York Times says this happened because of the underlying stress of the war in Iraq.
Nah. I made that up.
Well, I dunno, I haven't seen the Times yet today...
Posted by tu3031 2007-02-06 09:47||   2007-02-06 09:47|| Front Page Top

#13 It was Bush.
Posted by mcsegeek1 2007-02-06 10:06||   2007-02-06 10:06|| Front Page Top

#14 tu, this time it was anxiety over No Child Left Behind what done her in. Also a lingering suspicion that Diebold deliberately threw the last election to the Donks in order to make them look bad.
Posted by Seafarious">Seafarious  2007-02-06 10:11||   2007-02-06 10:11|| Front Page Top

#15 I was thinking about this bizarre story last night after I read it. GORT goes the right direction in his comment: something was missed by the flight surgeon. Astronauts get First Class medicals and a whole lot more. Ima sure that there is some heavy duty psychological screening.

The only clues so far in the story is that she is a mother of three and her bizarre behavior. Now men are men and women are women. With any intense working relationship that requires close teamwork, strong bonds are made. Each astronaut works out the balance needed to maintain proper working relationships at home and for the mission.

So it would seem to me that some answers for Nowak's behavior lies in her relationship at home, but her absolutely obsessive and bizarre behavior points to some kind of psychosis, which is very disturbing when it shows up in the Space Program.

I remember knowing a PanAm pilot telling me about the program that the company had many years ago. They had psychologists available to work with pilots when they had problems. PanAm recognized that pilots stressed with personal difficulties could be a danger to many, so the pilots were encouraged to get counselling if they found themselves in stressful personal situations, without repercussions. They would be able to be off the flight line while they sorted out their issues.

Ima not a psychologist, but Ima married to one (she had to take extra courses after we got married, heh). But Nowak's behavior is crazy, especially by one who has risen through the ranks based upon abilit and deed. And like other commenters for this thread, it points to some serious systemic problems in NASA. Maybe this is an abberation, or maybe she is the canary in the proverbal coal mine.
Posted by Alaska Paul">Alaska Paul  2007-02-06 10:18||   2007-02-06 10:18|| Front Page Top

#16 SPACE MADNESS!
Posted by Cyber Sarge 2007-02-06 10:33||   2007-02-06 10:33|| Front Page Top

#17 So, how many families have been destroyed?
Posted by anonymous2u 2007-02-06 10:55||   2007-02-06 10:55|| Front Page Top

#18 Next on Lifetime: "Mother May I Blastoff With Danger". With Tori Spelling...
Posted by tu3031 2007-02-06 10:57||   2007-02-06 10:57|| Front Page Top

#19 That's why I like Shipman. Always full of surprises. :)
Posted by Thoth 2007-02-06 11:19||   2007-02-06 11:19|| Front Page Top

#20 Good commentary, AP.

In any sufficiently large set of people, there will be found members of the set who are, to coin a phrase, deeply messed up. As more and more people joined the astronaut corps, something like this was bound to happen eventually. The real test for NASA will be how it handles this. Oefelein should be shown the door, and there should be consequences for the flight surgeon. If it all gets swept under the rug, or we get Clintonian non-consequence statements that "mistakes were made," that's a leading indicator of something massively wrong with NASA's institutional culture.
Posted by Mike 2007-02-06 11:30||   2007-02-06 11:30|| Front Page Top

#21 Iff I'm reading it correctly, Ofelelein was having an affair with two women not his wife, said affair(s) has now becoming public.

He had two kids, but his marital status is unclear. He might be divorced. Furthermore, Nowak says that their relationship was not (yet, anyway) a romantic one. So your judgment is a little premature.

(Oh, wait, this is Joe. Nevermind.)

You can put a fork in NASA, they're done.

Oh, please. Talk about premature. Yeah, they're going to catch some major-league flak from Letterman, et al. But this is kind of like indicting the entire US Government based on the behavior of Ramsey Clark.

I'm thinking there's something else going on here -- brain tumor, drug problem of some kind.

Then again, I always root for the brain tumors. I hate to think someone whose judgment should be sound is actually a nut.
Posted by Angie Schultz 2007-02-06 11:33||   2007-02-06 11:33|| Front Page Top

#22 Judging from the mug shot, Nowak won't be appearing on the "Hoosegow Honeys" list this week.
Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-02-06 11:53||   2007-02-06 11:53|| Front Page Top

#23 Now, now. Our mugshot cameras are the finest in the industry...
Posted by Make Me Look Ugly, Inc. 2007-02-06 12:12||   2007-02-06 12:12|| Front Page Top

#24 Shipman, you little tramp! Why, when I get my hands on you.... Manolo! My Depends! I'm on a road trip!
Posted by Frank G">Frank G  2007-02-06 12:17||   2007-02-06 12:17|| Front Page Top

#25 AP-

On reflection, I'm beginning to wonder if I've not been a bit harsh on Ms. Nowak. Without making any excuses for her utterly over-the-top actions,take a look at her CV: Annapolis grad, USN pilot and test pilot (which means she was carrier qualified - and that is an accomplishment that speaks for itself)with 1500 hours and astronaut. All of those require some pretty solid emotional grounding, as well as mental reserves that most of us can only envy. IOW, I'm now wodnering if there might not be an organic cause behind her actions. To just suddenly snap over an emotional attachment like this seems way out of character for someone with her accomplishments.

Mike
Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2007-02-06 12:24||   2007-02-06 12:24|| Front Page Top

#26 Something to consider... and I do know something about this from personnel experience...

Sometimes chemical imbalances can occur after child birth. I'm not talking about post-partum but about deeper psycological problems...

I know for a fact that a woman can be completely normal, intelligent, emotionally stable and then develope chemical imbalances later in life...

It's sad if this is the case...

Blackvenom-2001
Posted by Blackvenom-2001 2007-02-06 12:26||   2007-02-06 12:26|| Front Page Top

#27 looky rch'ere; if dis'ere Nowak hada led a normal hedonistic life like the rest of us normal folks she NEVER woulda worn diapers all the way from Houston to Orlando, no way no sur.. she woulda freeballed it instead.
Posted by RD 2007-02-06 12:38||   2007-02-06 12:38|| Front Page Top

#28 Well, between Uncle Harold and cousin Colleen things are always interesting around Christmas.
Posted by Shipman 2007-02-06 12:49||   2007-02-06 12:49|| Front Page Top

#29 do you jest Mr. Ship? :-)
Posted by RD 2007-02-06 12:56||   2007-02-06 12:56|| Front Page Top

#30 Ship, that Norwak is an engineer, remember what I told you about them engineers don't you?

Posted by Colleen Shipman 2007-02-06 14:05||   2007-02-06 14:05|| Front Page Top

#31 Ship, that Norwak is an engineer, remember what I told you about them engineers don't you?

That genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, which is why engineers smell so bad most of the time?

(Free Radical is an engineer. With a working shower, btw.)
Posted by Free Radical">Free Radical  2007-02-06 14:41||   2007-02-06 14:41|| Front Page Top

#32 Chicks. Can't live with em, can't kill 'em...
Posted by Bill Oefelein 2007-02-06 14:44||   2007-02-06 14:44|| Front Page Top

#33 ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- A jail official says a NASA astronaut is being charged with attempted first-degree murder in alleged kidnapping attempt involving a romantic rival.

I guess I watch too much CSI. Soon as I heard she had large plastic bags and a knife, I knew a Do-It-Yourself dismemberment was in the cards. I smell a Lifetime movie of the week in her future.
Posted by Steve">Steve  2007-02-06 14:54||   2007-02-06 14:54|| Front Page Top

#34 or a job with the Swift Meat Co.....
Posted by Frank G">Frank G  2007-02-06 15:02||   2007-02-06 15:02|| Front Page Top

#35 I told M'Lady this bizarre story this morning and she, as usual had some very good insights.

Of course one can have organic problems, like Angie's favorite one, the Brain Tumor™. You can also have hormonal issues, especially after childbirth, like the one who killed her kids in Texas a few years ago.

But M'Lady brought forth the idea of a balance or imbalance in one's life. In your teens and twenties, you are building your career. In her case, it is in some serious left brain stuff. Engineering, science, aeronautics, astronautics. Nowak was heavily into that. Then you have kids, hubby, relationship, all that. But during middle age, you need the creativity, the right brain stuff, say art or music, or something creative that you enjoy. If you are grounded in that when you are young, you have something to build on when you are older. E.G., Winston Churchill painted landscapes and such. For some reason, either real or perceived, she felt something strong with Bill Oefelein (Alaska guy, heh, maybe that's the problem). Maybe he was nice to her, considerate, took the time to be a friend, especially in her situation. Maybe that was all it was, regardless, that is all the info we have so far. Maybe she saw more in it than that, we do not know what things were like at home. Couple that with possible organic problems and you get something that is so bizarre and crazy. Especially from someone that has achieved so much and has come up through the ranks so far.

Many people will have a crisis in midlife, feeling totally empty, but rarely have a psychotic episode, like Nowak.

The fallout on the families from this incident will be great, and it is a great tragedy. Hopefully, examination of all the factors will give a greater understanding of the events.

It points out how important balance is in one's life, especially in middle age and later years.

That is basically M'Lady's 2 cents. She deals with problem kids in elementary and middle school as a psychologist. I mean some real abused problem kids. She finds them clinically interesting, but when she comes home, she gets her balance by playing music and writing songs, good creative stuff to balance the heavy sh*t and tragedy she sees every day.
Posted by Alaska Paul">Alaska Paul  2007-02-06 16:09||   2007-02-06 16:09|| Front Page Top

#36 When I first read the article, it was so bizarre that I found it funny, but on later reflection, I find it very tragic. Something went horribly wrong. And it does not seem so funny now.
Posted by Alaska Paul">Alaska Paul  2007-02-06 16:12||   2007-02-06 16:12|| Front Page Top

#37 The brain tumor thingy Angie raises is interesting. A cadaver study done some years ago revealed that some 20% had an undiagnosed small, benign tumor (micro-adenoma) in the brain. If that micro-adenoma exerts even a little pressure on a critical part of the brain, things can get quite interesting. And Alaska Paul's Lady raised a very good point about the criticality of balance.

Yes, Free Radical, a working shower and a fresh bar of soap are good things for engineers to keep handy. On the other hand, y'all are so cute when you think! ;-)
Posted by trailing wife 2007-02-06 16:38||   2007-02-06 16:38|| Front Page Top

#38 Here's the rap sheet via The Smoking Gun.
Posted by Raj 2007-02-06 17:27||   2007-02-06 17:27|| Front Page Top

#39 Oh, come on, you guys. The new chick is 17 years younger. Do the math. Would you rather play slap and tickle with a 39 ish woman or a 26 year old?

I wanna see a pic of Capt Shipman.
Posted by Chuck Simmins">Chuck Simmins  2007-02-06 17:46|| http://northshorejournal.org]">[http://northshorejournal.org]  2007-02-06 17:46|| Front Page Top

#40 She's mad 'cause Mr. Oefelein asked Ms. Shipman out to Launch instead of her.
Posted by Deacon Blues">Deacon Blues  2007-02-06 18:53||   2007-02-06 18:53|| Front Page Top

#41 <>

Or maybe she WAS grounded precisely because they had concerns about her and that's one reason she went round the bend .... hard to tell from the info available so far.
Posted by NASA observer 2007-02-06 19:03||   2007-02-06 19:03|| Front Page Top

#42 

Colleen Shipman (COURTESY OF PENN STATE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION). Graduated in 2002.

Posted by john 2007-02-06 20:40||   2007-02-06 20:40|| Front Page Top

#43 
Capt Nowak and Cmdr William Oefelein trained together
Posted by john 2007-02-06 20:46||   2007-02-06 20:46|| Front Page Top

#44 
Posted by john 2007-02-06 20:49||   2007-02-06 20:49|| Front Page Top

#45 Wife runs group homes for mentally ill.
Says and I quote:

Psych folks avoid working with people like that because they will fixate on you. She would never accept somebody really crazy like that in her homes.

Says... doc likely passed her because he didn't want her to focus on him.

Posted by 3dc 2007-02-06 20:55||   2007-02-06 20:55|| Front Page Top

#46 3dc---wife speculated that flight doc didn't want the hassle? Heh. Boy, if our psychologist wives got together and chatted, we better go faaaaaaaaaar away, toot sweet. We'd be in deep sh*t, LOL!
Posted by Alaska Paul">Alaska Paul  2007-02-06 21:14||   2007-02-06 21:14|| Front Page Top

#47 I guess you gents have been given the "clinical look", the one that sez I can Baker Act you 'ya know?

Colleen has the Shipman red hair, but her features are kinda sharpish, likely the Connecticut cadet branch.
Posted by Shipman 2007-02-06 22:14||   2007-02-06 22:14|| Front Page Top

23:56 sinse
23:54 ryuge
23:53 sinse
23:52 sinse
23:51 sinse
23:30 JosephMendiola
23:30 Frank G
23:02 SR-71
22:33 Barbara Skolaut
22:31 Chuck Simmins
22:26 trailing wife
22:24 Redneck Jim
22:14 Shipman
22:10 Anguper Hupomosing9418
22:10 Swamp Blondie
21:59 Remoteman
21:59 Angenter Crolugum3645
21:57 Alaska Paul
21:51 Shipman
21:44 Shipman
21:37 Pappy
21:31 Pappy
21:31 OIF 3 21B
21:17 Secret Master









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