Lisa Nowak

Lisa Nowak
Nowak in 2005
Born	Lisa Marie Caputo (1963-05-10) May 10, 1963 Washington, D.C., U.S.
Status	Dismissed
Alma mater	United States Naval Academy, B.S. 1985 Naval Postgraduate School, M.S. 1992
Awards	Defense Meritorious Service Medal Navy Commendation Medal Navy Achievement Medal NASA Space Flight Medal (2)
Space career
NASA Astronaut
Previous occupation	Test Naval Flight Officer
Rank	Commander, USN
Time in space	12d 18h 36min
Selection	1996 NASA Group
Missions	STS-121
Mission insignia

Lisa Marie Nowak (née Caputo, born May 10, 1963) is an American aeronautical engineer, former United States Navy captain, naval flight officer and test pilot, and NASA astronaut. Born in Washington, D.C., she was selected by NASA with NASA Astronaut Group 16 in 1996 and qualified as a mission specialist in robotics. Nowak flew in space aboard Space Shuttle Discovery during the STS-121 mission in July 2006, where she was responsible for operating the robotic arms of the shuttle and the International Space Station.

After she graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1985, Nowak was assigned to VAQ-34 at NAS Point Mugu, California, where she flew the EA-7L Corsair and ERA-3B Skywarrior. She earned both a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering and a degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and in 1993, was selected to attend the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. After graduation, she stayed on at Patuxent River, flying in the F/A-18 Hornet and EA-6B Prowler. She was then assigned to the Naval Air Systems Command, working on acquisition of new systems for naval aircraft. During her Navy career she logged over 1,500 hours in over 30 different aircraft , and was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal and the Navy Achievement Medal.

On February 5, 2007, Nowak was arrested in Orlando, Florida, after she accosted and pepper sprayed U.S. Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman, who was also romantically involved with astronaut William Oefelein. Nowak was released on bail, and initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, which included attempted kidnapping, burglary with assault, and battery. Her assignment to the space agency as an astronaut was terminated by NASA effective March 8, 2007. On November 10, 2009, she agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to charges of felony burglary of a car and misdemeanor battery. She remained a Navy captain until August 2010, when a naval board of inquiry voted unanimously to reduce her in rank to commander and to discharge her from the Navy under other than honorable conditions after 25 years of service.

Early life and education

Caputo as an Annapolis cadet

Lisa Marie Caputo was born in Washington, D.C., on May 10, 1963, the daughter of Alfredo F. Caputo, a computer consultant, and Jane L. Caputo, a biological specialist. Caputo and her two younger sisters, Andrea and Marisa, grew up in Rockville, Maryland. In 1969, she watched the Apollo 11 moon landing, and became interested in the space program. While growing up, she followed the Space Shuttle program, particularly the introduction of female astronauts in 1978, and paid frequent visits to the National Air and Space Museum.

Caputo was educated at Luxmanor Elementary School, Tilden Middle School, and Charles W. Woodward High School in Rockville. In the January of her junior year of high school, she told her mother that she was going to become an astronaut. She was a girl scout, and a member of the French Honor Society. She competed on the Math team and served on her class student council. She played field hockey and competed in track and field athletics. In 1981 she was named Student Athlete of the Year, and graduated as co-valedictorian.

In her final year of high school, Caputo received college acceptance letters from Brown University, a private Ivy League university in Providence, Rhode Island, and the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Her parents thought that Brown was the better choice, but Caputo felt that she had a better chance of achieving her goal of becoming an astronaut by going to the Naval Academy.

Women were first admitted to Annapolis in 1976, and by the time Caputo entered as a plebe in 1981, there were women in every one of the four classes at the academy, although they were still a minority, making up just 6 percent of the student body. About a third of the women (and a quarter of the men) dropped out. While the worst was over by 1981, there were still harassment from some male class mates, and occasionally a professor would inform a class that he did not think women belonged there. Caputo continued her athletic endeavors, and competed on the track team. She graduated on May 22, 1985, with a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering, and was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy.

Navy career

For her first assignment, Caputo chose a six-month secondment to the Johnson Space Center, where she worked as an aerospace engineer at its branch at Ellington Air Force Base near Houston, Texas. While she was there, there were six Space Shuttle launches. "What impressed me", she later said, "was the whole idea that everybody was so into what they were doing and excited that each of their parts was so important".

LTV EA-7L Corsair II of VAQ-34 in 1987

In December 1985, Caputo received orders to report to Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida for flight training. By law, women were still banned from combat assignments, so half the jobs in the Navy were unavailable to women regardless of talent or ability, and there were doubts about the wisdom of training women for jobs they could not do. Getting accepted into flight training was therefore a major achievement, and those women that did so were often resented by men who were passed over. Caputo completed primary flight training at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, and then trained on the Beechcraft T-34 Mentor. In June 1987, she qualified as a naval flight officer.

Caputo's flight officer training continued at Corry Station, where she learned to fly the Grumman EA-6 Prowler, an electronic warfare aircraft. She then went to the Naval Air Station Lemoore, where she qualified to operate the electronic systems on the LTV EA-7L Corsair II. On April 6, 1988, she married an Annapolis classmate, Richard T. Nowak, at the Naval Academy Chapel with Catholic rites, and changed her last name to "Nowak". Her next assignment was to Electronic Warfare Aggressor Squadron 34 (VAQ-34) at NAS Point Mugu, California, where she flew on both the Corsair II and the Douglas ERA-3B Skywarrior, supporting the U.S. Pacific Fleet in small and large-scale exercises with jamming and missile profiles. She qualified as a mission commander and electronic warfare lead.

In 1990, Nowak entered the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, where she earned both a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering and a degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering in September 1992, writing a thesis on "Computational Investigations of a NACA 0012 Airfoil in Low Reynolds Number Flows". She gave birth to her son, Alexander, in February 1992.

After graduate school, she transferred to the Restricted Line as an Aerospace Engineering Duty Officer, and was selected to attend the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, after she applied six times. After graduating, she stayed at Patuxent River working as an aircraft systems project officer at the Air Combat Environment Test and Evaluation Facility and at Strike Aircraft Test Squadron, as a naval flying officer/flight test engineer in the F/A-18 and EA-6B. She was then assigned to the Naval Air Systems Command, working on acquisition of new systems for naval aircraft, when she was selected for the astronaut program. During her career in the Navy, Nowak logged over 1,500 hours of flight time in over 30 different aircraft, and was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal and the Navy Achievement Medal.

NASA career

Astronaut training

Nowak in the systems engineering simulator

On June 15, 1995, NASA announced that it was selecting a new group of astronauts. As a naval officer, Nowak could not apply directly, like a civilian could, but had to submit her application to a review board that would then approve it and forward it on to NASA, which it did. NASA received 2,400 applications, and in early 1996, Nowak was informed that she was one of 150 finalists deemed highly qualified, and was asked to report to the Johnson Space Center for a week of orientation, interviews and medical evaluations.

On May 1, 1996, NASA publicly announced the names of 10 pilot and 25 mission specialist candidates, which included Nowak. The class of 1996 was the largest selected since the first class of Space Shuttle astronauts in 1978, which also numbered 35. They were ordered to report of duty at the Johnson Space Center to commence their astronaut training on August 12, 1996. The class was joined by nine international astronauts. Because there was so many of them, they were often packed in, and called themselves "The Sardines".

Nowak and her family moved to Texas, where they built a house in Clear Lake City. Her husband Richard was no longer on active duty, but continued to fly in the United States Naval Reserve. He found a job as a space communications contractor with Barrios Technology, an aerospace company, and worked at the Johnson Space Center as a flight controller at the mission control center.

Nowak reviews data on a computer monitor with Mark E. Kelly (center) and Steven W. Lindsey (right) during a training session at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory

Astronaut training included survival training, a three-day trip to the Grand Canyon to study geology, and classwork on the Space Shuttle's many systems. As a mission specialist, she was expected to fly a minimum of four hours a month in NASA's Northrop T-38 Talon aircraft. Training for a weightless environment was conducted in the waters of the Weightless Environment Training Facility, and in the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker known as the Vomit Comet. She completed her astronaut training in August 1998. On September 28, 1998, she returned to Annapolis along with fellow astronaut alumni Jim Lovell, Charles O. Hobaugh, David Leestma, John M. Lounge, Bryan D. O'Connor and Pierre J. Thuot, for a celebration of the life of Mercury Seven astronaut Alan B. Shepard, who had died two months before.

In early 2001, Nowak became pregnant with twins. At the Astronaut Office, Nowak specialized in the operation of the Space Shuttle's robotic arm. She also served with the CAPCOM Branch, the astronauts that worked with the mission control center as the primary communicators with the spacecraft. She performed this duty during the STS-100 mission in April 2001, when the crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavour installed the robot arm in the International Space Station. In October 2001, she gave birth to twin daughters, Alyssa and Katrina. Nowak and her husband alternated their work schedules so one of them was always with the children. This arrangement lasted until Richard was recalled to active duty in 2002 to participate in Operation Enduring Freedom, which effectively left Nowak a single mother with three small children.

Nowak listens to reporters' questions on June 8, 2006

On December 12, 2002, NASA announced the crew for STS-118, a mission scheduled for November 2003. Scott Kelly would be the mission commander, Charles Hobaugh as the pilot, and the mission specialists would be Nowak, Scott Parazynski, Dafydd Williams, and Barbara Morgan. The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster killed seven astronauts on the STS-107 mission, including three from Nowak's 1996 astronaut class. She served as the personal casualty assistance officer for the family of her close friend Laurel Clark.

The disaster resulted in a series of schedule and hardware changes. The task of testing all the changes was assigned to STS-114, the Return to Flight mission, but the list of changes requiring testing grew so large that a second Return to Flight mission was added to the schedule to accommodate them. Despite the numbering, this mission, STS-121, would be the second mission flown after the Columbia disaster. STS-121 would be primarily concerned with testing and developing new hardware and procedures to make Space Shuttle flights safer. It would also re-supply the International Space Station with equipment and consumables.

In January 2004, Nowak participated in an eleven-day cold weather survival training course in Canada with fellow NASA astronauts Dominic Antonelli and William Oefelein, Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang, Russian cosmonaut Dmitri Kondratyev, and Canadian astronaut Julie Payette. The course commenced on January 19, and involved four days of instruction with the Canadian Armed Forces they were dropped off in the wilderness in northern Quebec, and had to make their way back on foot. They covered 20 kilometres (12 mi) in eleven days, completing the course on January 29. Nowak had worked together with Oefelein, who had been selected as an astronaut with the class of 1998, when they were both stationed at Patuxent River in 1995.

Nowak during astronaut training in 2005

When Nowak and Oefelein returned to Houston they began an extramarital affair, which they attempted to conceal. As serving Navy officers, they could have been charged with conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, which includes adultery, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Oefelein's wife filed for divorce in February 2005 after discovering emails between him and Nowak. Their divorce was finalized in May 2005. Oefelein moved into a small apartment, to which he gave Nowak a key. She left personal effects there, and soon became a familiar sight to other residents of the complex.

Space flight

Main article: STS-121

In December 2003, NASA announced that STS-121 would be commanded by Steven Lindsey, with Mark Kelly as pilot and Michael Fossum and Carlos Noriega as mission specialists. On November 18, 2004, NASA announced that Nowak and her classmate Stephanie Wilson would be the mission specialists for the STS-121 mission. They were assigned the task of manipulating the robotic arms of the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. The STS-121 mission was originally scheduled for March or April 2005, but was postponed to July. During the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery for STS-114 in July 2005, debris had separated from the external tank, which previously had caused the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia. STS-121, the second Return to Flight mission, was postponed until a solution to the problem could be found. In January 2006, the STS-121 mission was rescheduled for a launch window between May 3 and 22, but in March a host of problems forced its postponement until July.

A pre-launch reception was held for Nowak at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, and she was joined by her parents, her husband Richard and three children, family members, and friends from school, Annapolis and the Navy. Among the personal effects she packed for the flight was a small owl figurine of the mascot of Luxmanor Elementary School, a koozie from Tilden Middle School, a banner from Charles W. Woodward High School, an Annapolis Class of 1985 flag, and her grandmother's engagement ring.

Nowak washes her hair on the flight deck of the Space Shuttle Discovery during the STS-121 mission

On July 1, 2006, the STS-121 crew ate the traditional prelaunch cake decorated with the mission's insignia, donned their orange space suits, and boarded the Space Shuttle Discovery at Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B. Nowak was the last crew member to enter the spacecraft, taking her seat as the flight engineer on the flight deck immediately behind Lindsay and Kelly. At 15:42, the launch was scrubbed due to thunderstorm activity in the area. A second launch attempt the following day was also cancelled due to inclement weather. Finally, on July 4, the spacecraft was successfully launched at 14:38. It was the first time a space shuttle launch had taken place on Independence Day. Main engine cutoff (MECO) occurred at 14:46, and the astronauts' children were given the traditional MECO presents of mission stickers and trinkets.

Nowak felt nauseous, a symptom of space adaptation syndrome. The first day in space was devoted to inspecting the Shuttle for possible damage of the kind that had doomed Columbia. The crew had noticed debris that had come off the external tank during liftoff. Nowak deployed the robotic arm to inspect the wing tips, nose and underside of the spacecraft using sensitive laser, digital and video camera. This was an extremely delicate operation; bumping any part of the spacecraft with the robotic arm could cause the very kind of damage that was dreaded. Knowing where every part of the robotic arm was at any time was not intuitive, and required a high degree of skill. After six and a half hours of careful examination, all that was found was a white splotch on the nose cap. Engineers initially concerned that this might be the result of a high-velocity impact, but on closer examination it was believed to be bird droppings. Some discoloration found on the leading edges was attributed to hydraulic fluid spills.

Nowak (right), Jeffrey N. Williams (foreground) and Michael Fossum (bacground) assist Stephanie Wilson (center) with using the Canadarm2 controls to move the Leonardo module on the International Space Station

After Discovery docked with the International Space Station, Wilson and Nowak used the robotic arm to unload the Italian-built Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM). The 7,400 pounds (3,400 kg) of equipment and supplies it contained included the Minus Eighty Lab Freezer for use in scientific experiments and a 1,400 pounds (640 kg) Oxygen Generation System to allow the International Space Station to support up to six crewmembers. Nowak carried out her assigned tasks with the precision and a meticulous attention to detail that was her trademark, but other crew members noted a reluctance to pitch in and assist with tasks that were not assigned to her and for which she had not trained.

The next item on the agenda was a series of spacewalks. The women were considered for this activity; when NASA trimmed the space suit budget in the 1990s, small sizes were omitted. Women astronauts were assigned to other tasks like operating the robotic arms. From the Destiny laboratory on the International Space Station, Nowak operated the robotic arm whose installation she had overseen as CAPCOM years before. It was more challenging to operate than the one of the Space Shuttle, being larger, and with an extra joint. Limited camera views restricted vision. Every move had to be made with care and precision lest it damage the Space Shuttle of the International Space Station.

Some 4,300 pounds (2,000 kg) of trash, experiment results and broken equipment were packed into Leonardo, and the robotic arm was used to re-stow the module in Discovery's cargo bay. It was then used to make a final check of the Space Shuttle to ensure that no damage had been done by micrometeorites or space debris. Discovery undocked from the International space Station, and commenced its two-day return to Earth. After nearly 13 days in space, during which it had traveled five million miles, Discovery landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center at 09:14 on July 17.

Nowak (center) and the rest of the STS-121 crew inspects the underside of the Space Shuttle Discovery after landing at the Kennedy Space Center

Homecoming

As was usual, the six crew members of STS-121 embarked on a series of publicity events and interviews. They attended X Games XII at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles from August 3 to 6, and the Houston Astros game at Minute Maid Park on August 14. The crew got to meet pitcher Roger Clemens and throw ceremonial first pitches. On September 9, Nowak attended a tailgate party at the Naval Academy versus University of Massachusetts football game, where she gave her class mates the Class of 1985 flag she had carried on the Space Shuttle, and signed photographs of herself. At half time she presented Annapolis with a Navy jersey she had carried on board Discovery. She gave a long interview with the Ladies' Home Journal for it Mother's Day issue, and presented awards at NASA's Stennis Space Center. She went back to Luxmanor Elementary School and Tilden Middle School where she spoke to the children, and attended celebrations at Annapolis for the 30th anniversary of its admission of women, and gave a presentation as part of the Academy's Forrestal Lecture Series. In December, the STS-121 crew flew to the UK, where they visited the University of Edinburgh and the National Space Centre in Leicester, and spoke at the University of Leeds, Piers's alma mater.

Nowak's marriage disintegrated, and she separated from Richard in January 2007. Her relationship with Oefelein also cooled, although she continued to call him almost every day. In late 2006, Oefelein began a relationship with U.S. Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman, who was thirteen years younger than Nowak, and worked as an engineer with the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida. Shipman's work with the Air Force's Delta IV rockets mean that she paid frequent visits to the Kennedy Space Center. Oefelein informed Nowak about Shipman in January. He thought Nowak took it well, and that they could remain friends. They continued to train for the MS 150, a charity bicycle race, but Shipman became uncomfortable with Nowak's purple bicycle being kept at Oefelein's place, and asked him to get her to remove it.

On January 29, 2007, NASA announced that Wilson had been chosen as the mission specialist for the STS-120 mission to replace Michael Foreman, who had been reassigned to the STS-123 mission, scheduled for February. Nowak had hoped for this assignment. Kelly told her that Wilson was a team player and well deserving. Nowak was assigned to CAPCOM duties for STS-123.

Orlando Airport Incident

Altercation

Nowak drove from Houston to Orlando, Florida, on February 4–5, 2007. She packed latex gloves, a black wig, a BB pistol and ammunition, pepper spray, a hooded tan trench coat, a 2-pound (0.91 kg) drilling hammer, black gloves, rubber tubing, plastic garbage bags, approximately $585 in cash, her computer, an 8-inch (200 mm) Gerber folding knife and several other items before driving the 900 miles (1,400 km) to Florida. Early police reports indicated she wore Maximum Absorbency Garments during the trip, but she later denied wearing them. On February 5, 2007, Nowak went to the Orlando International Airport, waited for about an hour in the baggage claim, and then proceeded to the airport parking lot, where she located and confronted Colleen Shipman, who had just arrived from Houston by plane.

Shipman said that after arriving, she was aware of someone following her to an airport satellite parking area. When she got into her car, she heard running footsteps and quickly locked the door. 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 sprayed the pepper spray into the car. Shipman drove off to the parking lot booth where police were summoned. Several Orlando Police Department Airport Division officers arrived minutes later, with the first officer observing Nowak throwing a bag into the trash at a parking shuttle bus stop. Nowak was subsequently arrested at Orlando International Airport on charges of attempted kidnapping, battery, attempted vehicle burglary with battery, and destruction of evidence.

In a handwritten request for a restraining order against Nowak after her arrest, Shipman referred to Nowak as an acquaintance of a boyfriend but did not identify Oefelein, and also claimed Nowak had been stalking her for two months. Nowak told investigators she was involved in a relationship with Oefelein which she described as being "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship". Citing evidence of elaborate planning, disguises and weapons, police recommended she be held without bail.

Arraignment

Two fellow astronauts traveled to Florida for Nowak's arraignment to assist authorities and NASA personnel as needed: Captain Christopher Ferguson, the senior active duty Naval Officer in the NASA Astronaut Corps at the time, went as Nowak's commanding officer, and Lindsey, the commander of 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's attorney argued that the facts indicated a well thought out plan to kidnap and perhaps to injure Shipman. 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 and not contact Shipman; however, before Nowak could be released, 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 that Nowak had been granted bail, pressed more serious charges solely to keep her confined to jail. 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. Shipman dropped her request for a protection order on February 15.

Reactions

On February 6, 2007, Nowak was placed on 30-day leave by NASA. She returned to Houston, Texas, on a commercial airline flight the next day and upon arrival was reportedly taken immediately under police escort to the Johnson Space Center for medical and psychiatric evaluation. Nowak's assignment to NASA as a serving Navy officer was terminated by the space agency on March 7, 2007. There was widespread reaction to Nowak's arrest with concerns expressed about NASA's astronaut selection and screening process and planned 30-month missions to Mars. Some indicated that NASA's presentation of astronauts as heroes is part of the problem because of the social pressure. Others have been shocked that her behavior has been the subject of parody instead of sympathy. For her work as a member of the crew of STS-121, NASA announced on May 30, 2007, that Nowak's would receive the NASA Space Flight Medal at Johnson Space Center on June 5, 2007.

NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin commissioned the NASA Astronaut Health Care System Review Committee, an independent panel, to examine how well NASA attended to the mental health of its astronauts. The initial report released by the panel raised questions in regards to possible alcohol use prior to flight. The report, however, offered no specifics, no facts to substantiate the claims, and stated that no attempt to confirm or investigate the allegations had been performed. Shuttle Commander Scott Kelly was vocal in his criticism of the report during interviews prior to STS-118, stating it was beyond his comprehension that astronauts would ever consider what was suggested. Following the release of the independent panel report, NASA ordered an internal review, the Space Flight Safety Review. On August 29, 2007, Chief Safety and Mission Assurance Officer Bryan O'Connor reported that after the month-long review, NASA found there was no evidence to verify the independent panel's report that astronauts have been allowed to fly drunk. Additionally, investigation into all incident reports dating from 1984 to 2007, found no incident involving alcohol or drug use. The report's findings specifically stated:

The culture of professionalism in today's astronaut corps, along with the highly visible, structured and supervised schedule during the last several days prior to launch, provide reasonable controls to avoid flying an alcohol-impaired crew member. In light of all the other controls in place on launch day, the L-0 flight surgeon check provides a reasonable likelihood of identifying signs of illness or impairment of the level that would threaten flight safety.

But Patricia Santy, a former NASA flight surgeon and the author of the book Choosing the Right Stuff: Psychological Selection of Astronauts and Cosmonauts, noted that:

Astronauts are high-achieving individuals who tend to believe they can cope with any problem and see psychological issues as signs of weakness. This is a group of individuals who are hardly motivated to voice psychological problems because of the consequences of doing so. They hate doctors in general and psychiatrists/psychologists in particular because they cannot win in any interaction with them — at best they can only "break even."

In response to the internal review, policies at NASA would be changed in a variety of ways: flight surgeons would be present during the pre-mission suit-up activities, flight surgeons would receive additional training in psychiatric evaluation, and although there was an unofficial code of conduct in place, an official "Code of Conduct" would be written up for employees.

Evidence

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 that 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 more than 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 15 images depicting an unidentified woman in different stages of undress. An evidence report dated March 15 indicated that nearly all of the photographs and drawings depicted scenes of bondage. Also found were $585.00 (USD) and £41.00 (GBP) in cash and 4 brown paper bags with 69 orange pills that were not publicly identified. Investigators also examined two USB flash 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.

Oefelein 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 that he did not retrieve until December 24, when they had a 7-minute conversation. During December and January, over 100 calls were recorded, although 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. He did, however, have lunch with her in his apartment at least once in January, they continued to train together for the bicycle race, and they went to the gym together.

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.

Developments

On February 13, 2007, Nowak pleaded not guilty to the charges of attempted murder and attempted kidnapping. On March 2, Florida prosecutors filed three formal charges against Nowak: (1) attempted kidnapping with intent to inflict bodily harm or terrorize, (2) burglary of a conveyance with a weapon, and (3) battery. The prosecutors declined to file the attempted murder charge that had been recommended by Orlando police. Nowak formally entered a plea of not guilty to the kidnapping charges on March 22 at an arraignment hearing although she was not present in person. Nowak's attorney, who filed the plea with the Orange County court, requested a jury trial. The trial was originally due to commence on July 30, 2007, but was postponed until April 7, 2008, to allow the prosecution time to prepare for an anticipated insanity defense. On January 16, 2008, a judge postponed the trial, as well as the pre-trial hearing to be held on March 12, 2008, indefinitely, pending the outcome of the state's appeal of an earlier decision to suppress evidence obtained on the day of her arrest.

A pre-trial hearing was held on July 17, 2007, and further hearings were to be held on September 19, to argue defense motions to suppress some of the evidence obtained on the day of her arrest. On August 12, 2007, Nowak asked to have her GPS ankle bracelet removed, which the judge agreed to on August 30. On August 28, the trial judge unsealed a court document indicating that Nowak intended to pursue an insanity defense. According to documents submitted by her lawyer, Nowak was evaluated by two psychiatrists who diagnosed her with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, Asperger syndrome, a single episode of major depressive disorder and a "brief psychotic disorder with marked stressors" at the time of the incident. On November 2, 2007, the trial judge suppressed Nowak's initial (pre-Miranda) statements to police, as well as all evidence found in her vehicle, citing police misconduct in their initial search and questioning. The prosecution appealed that ruling on November 8. A hearing on that appeal occurred on October 21, 2008.

On December 5, 2008, the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal held that her statements were taken in violation of her Miranda rights, but that the search of her car was still valid under the inevitable discovery exception to the search warrant requirement because the police would have inevitably found it in the normal course of the investigation despite her illegal statement. The case was sent back for trial. A pre-trial status hearing was scheduled for June 22, 2009. On April 1, 2009, the judge ordered Nowak to undergo two psychiatric evaluations before June 12, 2009.

On May 15, 2009, it was reported that Nowak would not claim insanity if her case ever went to trial. Nowak's attorney withdrew a previous motion filed in 2007, which would have left open the opportunity to use an insanity defense in the case. On October 7, 2009, a judge in Orlando ruled in favor of allowing Nowak's attorneys to take a second deposition from Shipman to inquire whether Nowak actually pepper-sprayed Shipman. A medical report by paramedics raised some questions according to Nowak's attorneys as to the factual basis for it. If it was found not to have occurred, Nowak's attorneys wanted the criminal charges related to the assault and battery to be dropped before trial began. The trial was scheduled for December 7, 2009. On November 10, 2009, Nowak entered a guilty plea to felony burglary and misdemeanor battery. She was sentenced to a year's probation and the two days already served in jail, with no additional jail time. In March 2011, Nowak petitioned the court to seal the record of her criminal proceedings, citing harm to her family and their livelihood. The motion was granted.

After NASA

Nowak (right) with the other women astronauts in 2012

Nowak and her husband Ricard divorced in June 2008, and she was given full custody of their three children. She remained on active duty with the Navy and was subsequently ordered to work on the staff of the chief of Naval Air Training at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas. There, she was involved in the development of flight training curricula for broad use throughout the Navy. The Navy had insisted on Nowak and Oefelein being returned because they had violated the Navy's rules prohibiting adultery, but Naval officials waited for her kidnapping case to be resolved before taking further action against her. A Naval administrative panel of consiting of Rear Admirals Mark S. Boensel, Eleanor V. Valentin and Timothy S. Matthews voted on August 19, 2010 to recommend Nowak be separated from the Navy with an "other than honorable" discharge and that her rank be reduced from captain to commander. The panel's recommendation had to be reviewed by the Naval Personnel Command, and would ultimately be determined by the Secretary of the Navy. On July 28, 2011, Assistant Secretary of Navy Juan M. Garcia III said in a statement that Nowak would retire with an "other than honorable" discharge and her pay grade would be reduced one rank. She retired from the Navy with the rank of commander on September 1, 2011.

Astronaut Michael Coats, the director of the Johnson Space Center, recalled that:

We had to send them back to the Navy, and of course, then they had judicial procedures as well. Reduced them in rank. Got to keep their retirement which was a big deal. Met with Lisa several times afterwards. She came up to my office every few months. She was looking for help in finding a job. She needed to support her family. I tried to do what I could, but everybody knew the name, and nobody was interested in helping out. I know she was struggling. I’ll never understand how that could happen. We teach our engineers and astronauts to compartmentalize and keep their personal affairs separate, and she did a wonderful job of that. She worked as a CAPCOM all day Friday, and then drove straight down through to Florida and nobody suspected anything.

In 2017, People magazine reported that Nowak was living quietly in Texas, where she was working in the private sector. Her attorney stated: "She's doing well."

In popular culture

Parts of Nowak's story—including a love triangle amongst astronauts and the reported wearing of adult diapers during a long-distance drive—inspired the 2007 Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "Rocket Man". The 2008 Molly Lewis song "Road Trip" recounts the details of early news reports about Nowak's trip from Houston to Orlando. The Ben Folds song "Cologne" from his 2008 album Way to Normal references Nowak's tabloid coverage where she "put on a pair of diapers to kill her boyfriend." Nowak's state of mind during the incident was the subject of a play, Starcrosser's Cut, which opened in Los Angeles in June 2013. In the 2017 film Rough Night, the male protagonist Peter is recommended by his friends to enact the "Sad Astronaut", clearly referencing Nowak's road journey from Houston to Orlando, Florida. A specific element of Nowak's journey (wearing of the adult diapers, which Nowak has since denied), is a plot point utilized in the movie, that has been cited as one of the film's most defining moments. The 2019 film Lucy in the Sky starring Natalie Portman is loosely based on Nowak's experiences.

References

• Fanning, Diane (2007). Out There: The In-Depth Story of the Astronaut Love Triangle Case that Shocked America. New York: St. Martin's Paperbacks. ISBN 0-312-94930-8. OCLC 179690159.
• Foster, Amy E. (2011). Integrating Women into the Astronaut Corps: Politics and Logistics at NASA, 1972–2004. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-1-4214-0195-9. OCLC 775730984.
• Hillman, Elizabeth L. (2008). "Gentlemen under Fire: The U.S. Military and Conduct Unbecoming". Law and Inequality. 26 (1): 1–59. ISSN 0737-089X. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
• Moore, Kimberly C. (2020). Star Crossed: The Story of Astronaut Lisa Nowak. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. ISBN 978-0-8130-6654-7. OCLC 1196086096.

External links

• Lisa Nowak Inflight Video Interview – Spaceflight Experience NASA (Windows Media Player)
• Lisa Nowak Inflight Video Interview – Eating and Family Contact NASA (Windows Media Player)
• Lisa Nowak Inflight Audio – Wake Up Call on Flight Day 4 with Her Response NASA (Wav)
• NASA Biography March 2007