Space community shocked by love-struck astronaut

Houston, Feb 7: Astronaut Lisa Nowak's attack on a rival for the affections of a fellow astronaut sent shockwaves yesterday through a tightly knit NASA community accustomed to its crewmembers showing the ''right stuff,'' not getting involved in love triangles.

Johnson Space Center director Michael Coats said in a statement the space agency was ''deeply saddened by this tragic event'' and that Nowak, based in Houston with the rest of NASA's astronaut corps, would go on leave, ineligible for space flights until further notice.

JSC spokesman John Ira Petty said Nowak's work had been exemplary and there was never an indication that the married mother of three had problems.

''We're surprised. Nowak did a great job on 121,'' he said, referring to the space shuttle flight she made in July, her only trip to space.

But, he added, ''We don't get deeply involved and generally don't concern ourselves with the personal affairs of our employees.'' Nowak's husband also is a NASA employee but her parents said the couple had separated a few weeks ago.

Nowak was freed on a total of 25,500 dollars bail yesterday after her arrest on Monday in Orlando, Florida, for assaulting US Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman, her romantic rival for astronaut Bill Oefelein. Nowak was charged with several crimes, including attempted murder.

Police said Nowak, 43, drove 1,530 km from Houston to Orlando wearing diapers so she would not have to make a bathroom stop in her haste to catch Shipman as she arrived in Orlando on a flight from the Texas city.

Nowak told police she only wanted to talk to Shipman but she was caught with a knife, mallet and BB gun after she sprayed Shipman with pepper spray.

The strange story was the talk of the town in and around the space center.

''It's very unusual, given the discipline the astronauts have,'' said Ken Forrester, a nurse practitioner who lives in the same neighborhood as Nowak and her family.

''I've lived here all my life and anything behind that fence, you never hear anything,'' he said pointing across the road to the fenced off space center.

''I'm surprised it happened but you know what they say: the flesh is weak,'' said Henry Gluzman, a clerk at a nearby store.

No one answered the door at Nowak's two-story home on a tree-lined street near the space center and neighbors had little to say.

''I've known them 10 years. They're a real nice family, there were no signs of anything (wrong),'' said one woman, peeking out from behind her front door.

The manager of a bar and restaurant popular with NASA workers said she would not discuss the incident because ''it wasn't something positive about NASA.'' Most NASA employees also were reluctant to talk about the matter. Some feared it would be another black eye for a NASA still recovering from the 2003 loss of shuttle Columbia.

''I just think the news is shocking,'' said one worker.

Perhaps everyone should not be so surprised, said shopkeeper Vilas Jalpur.

''It just goes to show everybody's human, whether they're astronauts or small-timers.'' Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, said on CNN's ''Larry King Live'' program that perhaps NASA should scrutinize astronauts' personal lives closer.

''This is certainly an indication that had someone been overseeing people under their jurisdiction a little closer, maybe they could have detected this and issued a warning of some sort,'' he said.

Reuters

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