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Lisa Nowak

February 16, 2012 by · Comments Off on Lisa Nowak 

Lisa Nowak, Lisa Marie Nowak (née Caputo) (born May 10, 1963) is a former American naval flight officer and NASA astronaut. Born in Washington, D.C., she was selected by NASA in 1996 and qualified as a mission specialist in robotics. Nowak flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery during the STS-121 mission in July 2006, where she was responsible for operating the robotic arms of the shuttle and the International Space Station.

Nowak gained international attention on February 5, 2007, when she was arrested in Orlando, Florida, and subsequently charged with the attempted kidnapping of U.S. Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman, who was romantically involved with astronaut William Oefelein. Nowak was released on bail, and initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, which included attempted kidnapping, burglary with assault, and battery. Her assignment to the space agency as an astronaut was terminated by NASA effective March 8, 2007. On November 10, 2009, Nowak agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to charges of felony burglary of a car and misdemeanor battery.

Nowak remained a U.S. Navy captain until August 2010, when a naval board of inquiry, composed of three admirals, voted unanimously to reduce Nowak in rank to commander and to discharge her from the navy under “other than honorable conditions”.

Lisa Nowak Arrested

February 16, 2012 by · Comments Off on Lisa Nowak Arrested 

Lisa Nowak Arrested, An apparent love triangle between an aging female Navy captain; her love interest, handsome NASA Astronaut Bill Oefelein; and a young female Air Force officer who had caught his eye and may have captured his heart, erupted into violence in the early morning hours after Super Bowl Sunday, Orlando, Fla. cops say.

Lisa Marie Nowak, 43, was arrested at Orlando International Airport following an 0430 scuffle with USAF Capt. Colleen Shipman as the attractive officer tried to drive away in her car.

A 1985 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Nowak was charged with attempted kidnapping, assault and battery and attempted destruction of evidence. The frantic female was ordered held without bail.

Investigators said they confiscated a wig, knife, BB-gun and other materials from Nowak who told police she had been in a “relationship” with Oefelein. The disheveled Space Shuttle flier told cops she found out Shipman was coming to Florida to see the male astronaut and immediately jumped in her car and drove through the night to intercept her rival at the airport.

In a bizarre twist to the tale, Nowak explained she had diapers in her car – she came all the way from Texas – in case she “had to go to the bathroom” en route.

The onetime U.S. Navy poster girl said the black trench coat she wore with a frizzy wig were to disguise herself as she trailed Shipman from an airport taxi stand to the parking lot.

“I’d just got into my vehicle when I heard running footsteps,” Shipman told investigators. The Air Force captain said a strange woman (Nowak) tried to yank open the car door, claiming first that she needed a ride, then asked for the use of a cell phone.

Shipman cautiously rolled down the driver’s side window a couple inches. That’s when Nowak allegedly sprayed the officer with chemicals and tried to commandeer the vehicle. Shipman’s cell phone call for help resulted in Nowak’s capture.

Inside the astronaut’s automobile, police found copies of e-mails between Shipman and Oefelein as well as “Mapquest” directions from Houston to the Orlando airport.

The 26 year-old Shipman is a 2002 graduate of Penn State University and was assigned as an engineer with the 45th Launch Support Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base near the Kennedy Space Center. She is said to have begun work at Cape Canaveral in May 2005.

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