NASA Astronaut To Be Charged With Attempted Murder

Source: VOA

Authorities plan to charge a U.S. space shuttle astronaut with attempted murder of a woman she allegedly considered a rival for the attention of a fellow astronaut.

A spokesman for the Orlando County jail in the southern U.S. state of Florida said police are in the process of adding the charge to other charges of attempted kidnapping and battery for astronaut Lisa Nowak. A judge had granted her bail, but the new charge has halted her release.

Police say the Nowak, 43, drove nearly 1,500 kilometers from Houston, Texas, to Orlando, Florida to confront Colleen Shipman, whom she considered a rival for the affection of space shuttle pilot William Oefelein.

Shipman told police that Nowak was dressed in a wig and trench coat when she confronted her in a parking lot at the Orlando airport and sprayed her eyes with pepper spray. Shipman drove off and called police, who apprehended Nowak and found a steel mallet, folding knife, rubber tubing and a love letter to Oefelein in her car.

A NASA spokesman in Houston said as of now, Nowak’s status as an astronaut remains unchanged. Nowak is a flight engineer and a U.S. Navy captain. She is married with three children.