NASA Love triangle?

Question

For anyone following the Lisa Nowak case and the NASA love triangle. What's your take on the recently disclosures taken from an interview with law inforcement concerning her relationship with Bill Oefelein? She's now calling their relationship "platonic".

MISS SHIPMANN SAID OEFELEING ONCE CALLED HER LISA BY MISTAKE WHILE THEY WERE IN BED TOGETHER.

She acted surprised when the detective told her that Shipman knew her only as Oefelein's colleague, not as someone with whom he had had a relationship.
She indicated that she was holding out for a possible future with Oefelein.elationship with Oefelein was romantic but platonic since she "wouldn't go beyond a certain point" while in the process of seperating from her husband.
"I just needed to know if she was aware," Nowak said. "He picked me up from the airport two weeks ago. I mean, I mean, you just don't do that for anybody."

Answer 1

Just another example of what a train wreck NASA has become. If you want to read a good article on how NASA can fix itself, read Wired's article that ran last month:

http://www.wired.com/science/space/magazine/15-06/ff_space_nasa

Answer 2

On February 5, 2007, Nowak was arrested at Orlando International Airport on charges of attempted kidnapping, battery, attempted vehicle burglary with battery, and destruction of evidence. She told investigators she was involved in a relationship with fellow astronaut William Oefelein which she described as being "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship."[14] U.S. Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman, who works as an engineer at Patrick Air Force Base,[15] was involved with Oefelein, who had recently broken off a two-year romantic relationship with Nowak.[16][17] In a handwritten request for a protective order against Nowak after her arrest, Shipman referred to Nowak as "acquaintance of boyfriend" but did not identify Oefelein and also claimed Nowak had been stalking her for two months.[18] Shipman dropped her request for a protection order on February 15.[19]


[edit] Arrest
According to police reports, Shipman said that upon arriving on a flight from Houston, she was aware of someone following her to a satellite parking area. When she got into her car, she heard running steps and quickly locked the door. A woman, later identified as Nowak, slapped the window and tried to open the car door, asked for a ride, then started crying. Shipman rolled down the window a couple of inches after which Nowak allegedly sprayed pepper spray into the car. Shipman drove off to the parking lot booth where police were summoned.[20]

Several Orlando Police Department officers arrived minutes later, with the first officer observing a person later identified as Nowak throw a bag containing a wig and a BB pistol into the trash at a parking shuttle bus stop. She was detained and subsequently arrested after being positively identified by Shipman. Orlando Police officials said Nowak had disguised herself during the assault by wearing a hooded tan trench coat and black wig and, along with the BB gun (which resembled a handgun), was carrying an eight-inch Gerber folding knife [21], a 2-pound drilling hammer, [22] black gloves, rubber tubing, plastic garbage bags and about US$585 [23] in cash. In her statement to police, Nowak said she wanted to talk to Shipman and discuss their relationships with Oefelein. When asked if she thought the pepper spray was going to help her talking with Shipman, she replied, "That was stupid." During a search of Nowak's car parked at a motel, the police found a letter written by Nowak which they said "indicated how much Mrs. Nowak loved Mr. Oefelein," along with latex gloves, opened packages for both a Gerber knife and pepper spray, an unused BB cartridge, handwritten directions to Shipman's house, copies of e-mails from Shipman to Oefelein, and diapers.[24] Authorities stated that she had used the latter during the 900-mile (1400-km) drive from her home in Houston, Texas to Orlando, so she did not have to stop to urinate (U.S. shuttle astronauts wear specially designed diapers during launch, re-entry and spacewalks),[25] though Nowak denies this.[26] They also found receipts indicating Nowak paid only in cash during her trip from Houston, including for her hotel stay.[27] Citing evidence of elaborate planning, disguises and weapons, police recommended she be held without bail.[17]


[edit] Arraignment
Two fellow astronauts flew to Florida in NASA T-38 Talon jets to visit Nowak in jail and otherwise make contact with her:[28] Christopher Ferguson, the senior Naval Officer in the NASA Astronaut Corps, went as Nowak's commanding officer, and retired Air Force Colonel Steve Lindsey, who had commanded Nowak's Shuttle mission, went as Chief of the Astronaut Office, the senior astronaut at NASA. On February 6, 2007, both appeared before a judge on her behalf. The state attorney argued that the facts indicated a well-thought-out plan to kidnap and perhaps to injure Ms. Shipman.[20] While arguing for pre-trial release Nowak's attorney remarked, “One’s good works must count for something.” Nowak was ordered released on $15,500 bail under the condition she wear a GPS tracking device[29] and not contact Shipman.

Before Nowak could be released, however, Orlando police charged Nowak with attempted first-degree murder and announced she would not be released on bail. Her lawyer alleged that police and prosecutors, unhappy Nowak had been granted bail, pressed more serious charges solely to keep her confined to jail.[30][31] In the second arraignment Nowak was charged with attempted first degree murder with a deadly weapon, for which the judge raised bail by $10,000. After posting bail, Nowak was released from jail. [14]


[edit] Criminal charges and not guilty plea
On 13 February, Nowak entered a written plea of "not guilty" to the charges of attempted murder and attempted kidnapping.[19] Nowak's attorney, who filed the plea with the Orange County court, requested a jury trial.[32] On March 2 Florida prosecutors filed three formal charges against Nowak: attempted kidnapping with intent to inflict bodily harm or terrorize, burglary of a conveyance with a weapon, and battery. The prosecutors declined to file the attempted murder charge which had been recommended by Orlando police.[33]

Nowak and Oefelein are each also at risk of court-martial for conduct unbecoming an officer, due to their alleged marital infidelity.[34]

Nowak formally entered a plea of not guilty in relating to the kidnapping charges on 22 March at an arraignment hearing although she was not present in person. Her trial was originally due to commence on 30 July, [35] but is currently scheduled to begin on September 24, 2007. [36]


[edit] Evidence released by authorities
On April 10, 2007, Florida Prosecutors released additional material in the case. The previous week, the trial judge had agreed to unseal some of the documents which described items found in Nowak's car after her arrest. Among these items were a handwritten note on USS Nimitz stationery listing Shipman's flight information, and "Flight Controller's Log" paper with a handwritten list of over 24 items, including sneakers, plastic gloves, contacts, cash, an umbrella, and black sweats. A floppy disk contained two photographs of Nowak riding in a bicycle race, and fifteen images depicting "a woman in different stages of undress." The woman is not identified. An evidence report dated March 15 indicated that nearly all of the photographs and drawings depicted bondage scenes. It is unclear why the images were in Nowak's car, or if the disks belonged to her. [22] Also found was US$585 in cash, 41 British pounds, and four brown paper towels with 69 orange pills which are still being assayed. Investigators also examined two USB drives found in the car. They contained family pictures, digital movies and NASA related materials. Investigators concluded that the information on the disk and USB drives did not have any direct relationship to the alleged kidnapping attempt. [37].

Documents released by the Florida State Attorney's Office on May 2, 2007, indicated that fellow astronauts and crewmates described her during interviews as "prickly," "contentious," and "not a team player." Her behavior during her shuttle flight was described as "selfish," and her perceived lack of teaming skills reportedly led to her being passed over for an opportunity to be scheduled to fly again on Discovery in October of 2007. Also, several of her colleagues indicated that there were office rumors that she was having an affair with Oefelein, and one of them reported that the couple had flown to Key West together in a NASA T-38 Talon jet sometime in 2005. On the other hand, her officemate described her behavior two days before the attack as "cheerful" and "bustling."[38].

Oefelein reportedly provided Nowak with a cell phone to communicate with him. Phone records show that she called him at least 12 times, and sent 7 text messages the day after he returned from his shuttle flight on December 22, but he did not pick up until December 24, when they had a seven-minute conversation. During December and January, over 100 calls were recorded, though it is unclear who called whom. Under questioning by NASA and military investigators, Oefelein reportedly stated that he had broken off the relationship with Nowak, however he had her to lunch in his apartment at least once in January, and they continued to train for a bicycle race, and go to the gym together. [39].[40]

On May 11, 2007, authorities released a surveillance video from the Orlando International Airport terminal purporting to show Nowak waiting for nearly an hour, standing near the baggage claim, then donning a trench coat and later following Shipman after she retrieved her bags.[41]. [42].


[edit] Legal maneuvers
Press reports have indicated that Nowak's attorney, Donald Lykkebak, is considering an "insanity defense," however other legal authorities suggest that such a defense has a poor chance of success: "The fact that there is no prior diagnosis of mental illness cuts very heavily against a mental health defense." [43].


[edit] Reactions
The event has been widely covered by U. S. media and attracted worldwide interest. "The mood at NASA is we're stunned," said space agency spokesman James Hartsfield. He added that in spite of the extensive psychological testing astronauts go through, "we don't track the personal lives of the individuals that work for the agency." When asked about the arrest after Nowak's first arraignment, Christopher Ferguson said, "Perplexed is the word I'm sticking with."[24] Retired astronaut Jerry Linenger expressed concerns about NASA's screening process, commenting that with plans for a 30-month trip to Mars, it would be dangerous for someone to "snap like this" during a mission.[44]

Former NASA psychiatrist Dr. Patricia Santy commented, "I really believe that NASA goes overboard in promoting how heroic and super all these people are. They themselves have forgotten these are ordinary people and in that kind of celebrity culture, there's a sense of entitlement." Space policy and history writer Howard E. McCurdy of American University said, "The astronaut culture is still a carry over from The Right Stuff days. It is very high intensity; it is very competitive."[45]

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin commented that "Clearly she is in major trouble, and clearly we failed as an institution to recognize that she was very troubled."[46]

NASA Flight Surgeon Jonathan Clark, whose wife died in the Columbia Disaster, said, "There has been a lot of marital infidelity in the astronaut corps [and] a huge number of divorces, even in these very educated and talented folks. But you have to wonder what stresses folks are under in that environment." Specifically about Nowak, he said, "The family separation, and the pedestals astronauts are often put on have the potential to take someone as gifted and talented and fundamentally nice as Lisa Nowak and turn her into someone that is really not her."[47]

There have been at least two public calls for ceasing mocking her and the unusual aspects of her case and letting the justice system work its way forward without causing further unnecessary damage to Nowak or her family. [48]

Men's rights advocate Glenn Sacks has criticized what he perceives as the lenient treatment of Nowak by the courts and the media as an example of gender-bias in the favor of female perpetrators being treated as "victims" of circumstances.[49]