Tuesday - February 06, 2007

Space Cadet

Houston, we have a problem. It appears our boy astronauts and our girl astronauts are weirding out on us. In spite of the millions we spent training them and the discipline we enforce on them it turns out they’re still human after all. Unfortunately, some of them appear to be the Jerry Springer kind of human. This love triangle story has been hanging around out there the last couple of days just waiting for someone to ask ... “WTF?”

This bodes ill for future space flight if the boys and the girls can’t keep their relationships straight on the ground. They’re supposed to be the best of the best, the highly disciplined product of decades of training and education. They’re not supposed to be like the rest of us lunatics down here. What will the Vulcans and Klingons think of us now? Especially after they see the mug shot below. Great Googley-Moogley!

Space Shuttle Astronaut Arrested At OIA
On Attempted Kidnapping, Battery Charges
_{(ORLANDO SENTINEL) - February 6, 2007, 11:06 AM EST}

A NASA astronaut could be released later today, a day 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. She was being held on no bond at Orange County Jail, but a judge this morning set bail at $15,500. Her commander at NASA, Steve Lindsey, and fellow astronaut Chris Ferguson both appeared on her behalf this morning.

Nowak—who was a mission specialist on a Space Shuttle Discovery flight 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, and attempted vehicle burglary with battery. Orange County Judge Mike Murphy did not find probable cause on another charge, the destruction of evidence. He set bond on the other three charges at $15,000, with a $500 bond on the evidence count. He also ordered that Nowak be fitted with a GPS device on her ankle, which will not allow her east of Orange County. Her victim works east, at the cape. Murphy ordered Nowak not to have contact with the victim, who according to testimony was a stranger to her until the two met at the airport.

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.

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/06/2007 at 11:34 AM   
Filed Under: • Stoopid-People •  
• Comments (18) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner