NASA astronaut accused in kidnap plot is charged

Mars_B4_Moon · 2007-02-06 21:23:56

Sounds like an episode of Jerry Springer or CSI. Astronaut Nowak drove about 1,450 kilometres, donned a disguise and was armed with a BB gun and pepper spray when she confronted a woman she believed was a competitor for the affections of navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, an unmarried fellow astronaut.

I don't think this will do any damage to the Space Program but the media will use this incident to drag NASA's name through the dirt

A NASA astronaut accused of trying to kidnap a romantic rival for a space shuttle pilot's affections was charged with attempted first-degree murder Tuesday and jailed on US$25,000 bail.
http://www.680news.com/news/internation … t=w020667A

cIclops · 2007-02-07 02:57:00

There's no statement at all from Novak on the alleged incident. It's amazing how the media just love to tear apart someone famous without hearing their side of the story. She's been tried and found guilty by the media, if she is innocent the damage to her reputation will be hard to repair.

NASA have issued a statement

"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."

BTW shouldn't this be somewhere else? it's not exactly Human missions. Free chat perhaps.

Palomar · 2007-02-07 05:33:38

There's no statement at all from Novak on the alleged incident.

Because it's wiser she only talk with an attorney now.

It's amazing how the media just love to tear apart someone famous without hearing their side of the story. She's been tried and found guilty by the media, if she is innocent the damage to her reputation will be hard to repair.

???

Have you even followed the basic details of the case?

Shipman said Nowak's been stalking her for quite some time. Nowak drove 900 miles straight wearing diapers so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate (though we must presume she had to stop at least twice to refuel the car), donned a disguise (wig and trenchcoat), ran after Shipman while she was getting into her car, blasted Shipman with pepper spray when Shipman cracked the window open so Nowak could hear her...

...not to mention the mallet, new knife, rubber binders and trash bags Nowak was carrying.

All of it at the very least looks rather suspicious, wouldn't you say?

But heck, maybe she was just sore Shipman didn't pay for an order of Girl Scout cookies or something. Or maybe Colleen Shipman hallucinated the entire event and is maliciously trying to get Nowak into trouble over nothing?

C'mon.

Palomar · 2007-02-07 06:24:01

From the latest Yahoo! update:

Then, according to police, Nowak donned a wig and trench coat, boarded an airport shuttle bus with Shipman and followed her to her car. Crying, Nowak sprayed a chemical into the car.

Nothing suspicious about that. Nope.

Shipman drove to a parking lot booth and sought help.

With red eyes and other side effects from having been blasted in the face by pepper spray for no good reason. Unless Ms. Shipman merely fabricated the entire incident and Nowak just happened to be coincidentally caught by police disposing of similar items in Orlando, FL. Or maybe the cops planted the evidence.

A police affidavit made public Tuesday said Nowak had "stealthily followed the victim while in disguise and possessed multiple deadly weapons."
The affidavit said the circumstances of the case "create a well-founded fear"

If I were Colleen Shipman I'd definitely have felt some fear.

and gave investigators "probable cause to believe that Mrs. Nowak intended to murder Ms. Shipman."

Yep. When I read "garbage bags, mallet, new knife, rubber binders" in Nowak's possession my first thought was murder. Classic "kill, dismember, discard" items.

Lykkebak said that Nowak only wanted to talk to Shipman.

Oh sure. It's so commonplace: Want to merely talk with someone so put on a disguise, chase person to their car, blast them with pepper spray when you can't force the door open, etc.

Asked about the weapons, he said, "You can sit and speculate all day."

Whatever her full intentions, at the very least Nowak was up to no good; the disguise, chasing after Shipman and blast of pepper spray in the face is proof enough.

Unless of course Shipman fabricated the entire incident and the cops are in cohoots with her, including planting evidence on Nowak. Which I highly doubt. And Nowak would still have to explain WHY she was suddenly at that same Florida airport (sans her own airfare) at the same time as Shipman, so far from her own home in Houston.

A mere coinkydink? I think not.

Palomar · 2007-02-07 06:49:44

She printed out detailed maps for the trip, which were found in her car during a police search, along with handwritten directions to Shipman's home. En route, she paid cash for hotel stays and registered under an assumed name.

Once in Orlando, according to the arresting affidavits, Nowak followed Shipman from the airport to her car in a satellite parking lot, where the confrontation took place about 3:45 a.m.

3:45 a.m. is always a nice time to merely want to talk.

Wearing a wig and glasses, Nowak approached Shipman as she got into her car and told Shipman her boyfriend had not shown up to pick her up and she needed a ride.

What boyfriend, Ms. Nowak? Did you mean your husband in Houston? Or your astronaut paramour who also was in Houston at the time? You needed a ride from Colleen Shipman in Orlando, FL to Houston?

Shipman drove away and found police, who located Nowak at a bus stop. They also found a wig and a plastic bag containing a carbon dioxide-powered BB pistol in a nearby trash can, the report said.

Well you know, if blasting someone in the face with pepper spray can't coax them into a chatty 3:45 a.m. conversation, perhaps waving a BB pistol around might make them friendlier.

Inside a bag Nowak was carrying, the officer found a tan trench coat, a new steel mallet, a new folding knife with a 4-inch blade, 3 to 4 feet of rubber tubing, several large plastic garbage bags and about $600 in cash, the report said.

Maybe she was confused and thought Ms. Shipman was hosting a Tupperware party at her home later in the day.

cIclops · 2007-02-07 07:02:11

All these details about what happened have come from the accuser, why take them as fact?

It's a very sad state of affairs when this type of story gets far more media coverage than NASA's budget, even from the space media. Currently over 2,000 reports about Nowak and less than 100 about the budget and the future of the VSE.

Rxke · 2007-02-07 09:07:25

Topic moved.

Palomar · 2007-02-07 10:23:50

All these details about what happened have come from the accuser

And from the police.

why take them as fact?

Why not take Ms. Shipman's and the police's details as fact? Unless of course Ms. Nowak is to be granted utter and complete "benefit of the doubt" solely on the basis of her being an astronaut. ?

Maybe Ms. Nowak is in seclusion (she is) and not giving any statements to the press (she's not) because she did indeed screw up and is feeling remorseful?

Silence gives assent.

She's still got freedom of speech/expression: Why isn't she in front of cameras/microphones right now, giving her side of the story? No one can stop her from doing that, not even her attorney.

It's a very sad state of affairs

Manned space exploration has been in a very sad state of affairs since 1975, by my estimation.

when this type of story gets far more media coverage than NASA's budget, even from the space media.

Reality bites.

We should be reading about NASA's latest addition to its Mars colony (would beat the frickin' budget reports).

Currently over 2,000 reports about Nowak and less than 100 about the budget and the future of the VSE.

Maybe that's because nothing like this has happened before in the history of NASA?

No surprise to me why it's a big story.

--Cindy

dreammaker · 2007-02-07 11:31:55

why are we discussing this more than NASA's budget report?

cIclops · 2007-02-07 12:29:17

All these details about what happened have come from the accuser
And from the police.

The police weren't present at the alleged incident.

why take them as fact?
Why not take Ms. Shipman's and the police's details as fact? Unless of course Ms. Nowak is to be granted utter and complete "benefit of the doubt" solely on the basis of her being an astronaut. ?

Because statements by one person do not constitute "facts", facts must be proven.

Silence gives assent.

Silence says nothing, it assents to nothing. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? The usual advice in such situations is to say nothing unless a lawyer agrees.

She's still got freedom of speech/expression: Why isn't she in front of cameras/microphones right now, giving her side of the story? No one can stop her from doing that, not even her attorney.

See above.

Manned space exploration has been in a very sad state of affairs since 1975, by my estimation.

It was more of a comment on the media and the public opinion they shape than one about space exploration

Reality bites.

Only when that reality is created by the media and given teeth.

Palomar · 2007-02-09 12:18:29

Must dissect this blog post (viewable through space.com).

Stop the Presses … Please!!! Lisa Nowak and Anna Nicole Smith
Author Anthony Duignan-Cabrera
Just as the groundswell of gossip-mongering, prurience and plain old media exploitation reached its histrionic crescendo surrounding astronaut Lisa Nowak’s tragic fall-from-grace,

You're right. I just cannot fathom why, for the 1st time in the 5-decade history of NASA, a little ol' incident like that could possibly generate media attention/scrutiny. Give me a break, Mr. Disingenuous.

along came the untimely (inevitable?) death of Anna Nicole Smith, a woman truly famous for doing absolutely nothing.

So...are you bashing ANS for "doing absolutely nothing" to achieve her fame?

For the families of all involved in what appeared to be an ill-fated romance

Ill-fated? As in a matter of fate, i.e. entirely out of anyone's control and over which everyone is a victim in it?

among NASA’s astronaut corps it can only be a relief that Smith, a beauty of Amazonian proportions who married well, widowed ugly and parlayed the ensuing media circus into reality-TV stardom shuffled off this mortal coil just in time for the 5 o’clock news Thursday evening. Talk about timing!

You said it, I didn't.

For someone like Smith, the relentless, 24/7 coverage of her self-created trials and trevails was the business that she was in.

So it's okay for the media to cover the self-created "trials and trevails (travails)" of one sort of celebrity, but not another? The media should adhere to a deliberate double standard? Bimbos are fair game, astronauts are holy untouchables?

Seems to me Nowak also has her self-created trials and travails. Unfortunately.

Then there’s Nowak, who prior to Monday’s very public breakdown, arrest and arraignment, lived her life like the rest of the nation’s astronaut corps in a kind of noble obscurity, trotted out for photo ops and interviews when it came time for NASA to promote visibility for its ongoing manned space program, specifically last July’s mission to the International Space Station.
A quick Google search this morning captured about 2.5 million references for Anna Nicole Smith, while Nowak came in with a paltry 890,000. That said, a bulk of the Nowak references, almost 50 percent of the search pages, referenced the awful events of the last five days of her life. In fact, it’s safe to say that the media has printed more column inches in the last four days on Nowak’s personal tragedy than it did over the last year on the fact that she risked her life as a member of the STS-121 space shuttle Discovery crew.

Maybe that's because shuttle missions have been somewhat routine for decades now? Because there have been lots of shuttle astronauts whose missions are ho-hum compared to their Apollo counterparts? Yes, she risked her life. AND she might have risked Colleen Shipman's life earlier this week.

Where is Colleen Shipman in all this?

It’s nice to know where the media’s priorities lie.

The media's priority is making MONEY. Alleged attempted murder and erratic behavior likely will make the media more MONEY than another ho-hum routine shuttle mission. Sorta sucks, but that's reality. Which you're old enough to know already, if you weren't so bent on kissing up to an astronaut.

So you can imagine my surprise last night when I saw People magazine’s latest issue at the local pharmacy with Nowak, her alleged intended victim and her alleged paramour plastered on the cover.

That was a terrible shock to you? After all the relentless media frenzy you pointed out and bemoaned above? Please ... just write the blog, don't make silly attempts at jaw-dropping theatricality.

On the other hand, just imagine how surprised People’s editor’s were today,

Likely they were, as they probably don't consult a crystal ball.

realizing that when they put the issue to bed Wednesday, in less than 24 hours, a “real celebrity” would do something really worthy of a cover story? Tragic, really.

Yeah, what a pity Anna Nicole didn't die two days earlier in order to take the heat off Nowak and be on that cover instead! And darn those People magazine editors for not being psychic!

So what do you suggest they do from now on? Hold off on publication until "something REALLY newsworthy" happens?

Quit booty smooching; NASA astronauts are not gods, they are not entitled to special treatment. Nowak messed up. Colleen Shipman might be lucky to be alive.

Colleen Shipman, you know...the SINGLE woman in the matter?

Hopefully Nowak can get her life straightened out.

dreammaker · 2007-02-09 12:37:09

with all the news media over all this ... it would seem like a good idea to higher a bunch of horny teens to work for nasa and the tragic love triangle and drama that it would generate would keep nasa in the publics eye.

Palomar · 2007-02-12 16:02:30

http://www.space.com/news/ft_070212_nowak_benefit.html

Florida Restaurant Holds Benefit for Astronaut Lisa Nowak

:?:

Where's Colleen Shipman's benefit dinner?

Dicktice, I think you're right: Americans ARE frustrated royalists and I guess astronauts are royalty.

It's one thing to give someone a 2nd chance, but let's not forget there are serious criminal charges involved.

I hope Nowak gets the help she needs, but my heart is with Shipman.

I'm also tired of the media (popular or space) making this sound merely like a lover's triangle. Nowak is MARRIED...Shipman isn't.

This is beginning to remind me of all the sympathy for O.J. Simpson.

dreammaker · 2007-02-12 17:06:20

media is friend or foe..... even if your evil .. the media can make you into a saint.... or seem like a not so bad person that just "goofed" this one time and wont do it again.

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