Astronaut Arrest Info

[TromboneAl]

In reading and watching the news items about the arrest of Lisa Nowak, there's a detail that I haven't seen reported. Maybe I missed it.

According to reports "she drove to Florida bringing with her a trenchcoat and wig, armed with a BB gun and pepper spray" and confronted this other woman. She's charged with attempted kidnapping and attempted murder.

But what I haven't seen reported is what actually happened. Did the other woman escape and contact police? Did someone see the confrontation and call police?

Anyone know?

 

[Andre1969]

I was really fuzzy on the details too, but searching around, found this blurb: http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/02/06/D8N4BF1G0.html

I work for NASA, and I order supplies for our project. At least now I get the joke behind people coming to me and asking me to order a gross of diapers! :

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

She confronted the woman in a parking lot, sprayed her through the open driver window with pepper spray, and the other woman close the window and took off.

She had a knife, a bb gun, some rubber tubing, pepper spray and some other stuff in a bag. She disguised herself, paid cash for the entire trip and wore the diaper (which all astronauts do on launch and landing when they cant use the potty chair) so she didnt have to stop as much.

She was totally going to pepper spray her, tie her up with the tubing, then take her somewhere and kill her with one or more of the remaining items.

Lady's lucky to be alive.

Hell hath NO fury like a woman scorned.

 

[Martha]

That's what happens when you pamper astronauts.

 

[TromboneAl]

I'm glad I'm not the cop who had to pat her down.

 

[REWahoo]

That's what happens when you pamper astronauts.

Well, it depends.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

That's what happens when you pamper astronauts.

 

[W2R]

She could have used the rubber tubing as a garrott, too. Ugh!!!

And the question is, why would anyone with her opportunities and experiences throw it all away like that? That is so inconceivable to most of us working mortals who may agree that glory, fame, wealth, and a place in history are harder to find than another fish in the sea. She must have had a severe psychotic break, unless there are other facts to be heard later at the trial.

 

[USK Coastie]

So much for the military/NASA human reliability programs. Makes you wonder if the guys in the silos or aboard the subs are as reliable as we'bve been told.
I'm sure Nords could give some insite as a weps officer on a NUC boat.

 

[Brat]

Sometimes I wonder if fast-track performers miss a couple maturation steps. I have seen this in a physician.

The other strong possibility is that she has had a nervous breakdown. Her behavior was hyper-reactive IMHO. Emotional, not analytical.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Sometimes I wonder if fast-track performers miss a couple maturation steps. I have seen this in a physician.

Cool Dude! Totally rad. Like fast-track is awesome, man. Totally mature.

 

[Non sequitur]

I was nowhere near that airport and I deny ever having met either of those women.

​

 

[Nords]

Bummer. Lisa Nowak's a Navy captain, USNA '85, and a plebe when I was a firstie. I remember reading about her over the years, although not like this, and I suspect her special FITREP and her retirement request are both being drafted as fast as her psych eval. Not that we'll be seeing her picture in the alumni magazine for a while. And I imagine this isn't much fun for her estranged spouse or her teenage son.

Of course the dark humor is that she must be mentally deranged because she didn't succesfully complete her mission.

So, here's a quiz for all you veteran command duty officers: UNIT SITREP or OPREP-3 NAVY BLUE?

Just for "fair & balanced" from the opposite side of the bell curve and to wipe away the bad taste in your mouth, this is Wendy Lawrence '81. Pretty much the same women from the same background at the same time... with two very different results.

I'm sure Nords could give some insite as a weps officer on a NUC boat.

One of my best nuclear weapons handling supervisors, a sonar tech chief petty officer nicknamed "Jonesy", told the agent doing his security investigation that he was a long-time subscriber to a photography magazine called "Chicks With..." well, you get the idea. When she expressed skepticism he brought forth a number of recent issues with his name on the subscription label. ("I'd hate for you to find out about this from someone else before you hear about it from me!") And another one of my fire control sailors, also a nuclear weapons tech, was saving all his money to leave the Navy and enroll in Scientology training. (No, he didn't even look like Tom Cruise.) I had two other guys who'd been declared physically addicted to alcohol but were also decreed "rehabilitated" after a six-week inpatient treatment. And these were just the guys on my boat, which I might modestly add won an award for having the best Weapons department on the waterfront, and we had documented proof that we could hit more targets than anyone else. Imagine how it must've been on the screwed-up boats.

Today I find it hard to believe that I used to soberly nod my head and salute when reading message traffic for nuclear security officers that declared a weapons tech who used marijuana five times before joining the Navy as an "experimenter" while the poor schlubs who smoked a sixth joint were "habitual users". I also used to be able to recite from memory where one could attend an AA meeting just about any Oahu weeknight... I just hope this sort of stuff isn't what happened to Lisa Nowak.

 

[Gumby]

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[Gumby]

[..

 

[Texas Proud]

Interesting question came up at lunch....

Would she not get a dishonorable discharge from the Navy and lose her pension??

And Gumby.... I live in Houston and they do reports here... but it is mostly ignored what is happening in space and especially when they are on the ground... I don't think it is as high a pressure job as a police officer or fireman...

Now, someone who disarms roadside bombs in Iraq... now that is pressure..

 

[Gumby]

..

 

[Nords]

Would she not get a dishonorable discharge from the Navy and lose her pension??

I think she'd have a tough time defending herself against the charge of "conduct unbecoming of an officer". "Assault" might be a problem too, let alone that pesky fraternization thing.

The discharge system is a little different for officers and the BCD/DD equivalent is "dismissed". That could easily have happened if she'd been successful in what seemed to be at least a murder two attempt. But it's mostly used when the military just doesn't want to beat up on someone any more than they already have, like 1LT Watada.

A general court-martial would be able to reduce her in rank to private and then award a dishonorable discharge. But over-the-top nuclear-ballistic reactions like that take months to achieve and would probably only be applied to someone like John Walker or a serial killer. I can't even think of any names or cases in that league. Gumby?

I suspect she's going to get a really quick retirement. I can only fantasize about how rapidly it'd be processed. The military doesn't want the publicity that'd be attendant with "punishing her family" by taking away her pension benefits that everyone's worked so hard all these years to support, blah blah. But I don't think they're going to let her cash in her terminal leave, give her permissive temporary duty orders to look for housing in her retirement area, let her stay until she reaches her 22-year longevity pay raise this May, or give her preferential points for a cushy NASA civil-service job! Oh, and I think she's lost her flight pay too, effective the day she drove to Orlando.

I live in Houston and they do reports here... but it is mostly ignored what is happening in space and especially when they are on the ground... I don't think it is as high a pressure job as a police officer or fireman...

Willie McCool, USNA '83. And many others.


Well, that was how my predecessor handed me his Weapons Officer job. You can ignore a lot of symptoms but that coughing-up-blood thing is hard to conceal...

I notice NASA has backed far away from this one. Navy, over to you!

 

[samclem]

Hmmm. I'm not an expert on Navy disciplinary procedures, but I'll bet a nickel she doesn't end up keeping her pension. Anything is possible, and if she gets a good defense lawyer, he'll definitely attempt to build a strong temporary insanity defense (it's prima facie: Can anything else explain flushing a lifetime of accomplishments down the toilet for such an ill-conceived plot?). I would guess she'll first face the charges in civilian court (battery, attempted kidnapping), and then the military system will have their shot at her.

Very sad. People aren't machines, that's for sure.

 

[poboy]

 

[Zoocat]

This interests me. I wonder why most people are focusing their bafflement over her behavior on the fact of her profession, as if being an astronaut and being able to compartmentalize well excludes a person from going over the waterfall.

Obviously, she was in love. Her lover "betrayed" her with another woman. She was separated from her husband. She had three children. And she was/is an astronaut. My goodness! If this isn't a recipe for severe mental/emotional anguish I don't know what would be. Many people going through separation/divorce experience sleep deprivation. Several months of this can really cause a serious personality disorder. Many people need anti-depressants and other meds to get through the emotional trauma of love gone bad.

I don't think people in our society realize the severe emotional trauam of losing one's love partner. Either it's treated as something ordinary, happens all the time, you know. Or it's a joke. Like "no fury like a woman scorned." This is real human suffering. And may really be "Temporary insanity."

All this doesn't excuse trying to murder your rival though.

 

[W2R]

All this doesn't excuse trying to murder your rival though.

To me that is really over the top (to say the least).

 

[Nords]

Hmmm. I'm not an expert on Navy disciplinary procedures, but I'll bet a nickel she doesn't end up keeping her pension. Anything is possible, and if she gets a good defense lawyer, he'll definitely attempt to build a strong temporary insanity defense (it's prima facie: Can anything else explain flushing everything a lifetime of accomplishments down the toilet for such an ill-conceived plot?). I would guess she'll first face the charges in civilian court (battery, attempted kidnapping), and then the military system will have their shot at her.

The Navy never even court-martialed Scott Waddle for killing nine Japanese fishermen (including high school students) with USS GREENEVILLE. He's collecting his pension, and the U.S. has even attempted to financially compensate the Japanese families for their losses.

I bet she's retired before she even gets back in court. At least she'll have good mental-healthcare benefits...

 

[Zoocat]

To me that is really over the top (to say the least).

What? Did you read the word "doesn't"?

The Navy never even court-martialed Scott Waddle for killing nine Japanese fishermen (including high school students) with USS GREENEVILLE. He's collecting his pension, and the U.S. has even attempted to financially compensate the Japanese families for their losses.

I bet she's retired before she even gets back in court. At least she'll have good mental-healthcare benefits...

If I remember correctly the Greeneville case didn't involve a deliberate act. Is that true? Doesn't that make a difference in military justice? The astronaut's actions were deliberate but involved a personal matter. And she is not in the military (correct?), so why would the government have any right to take her pension?

 

[2B]

During my short stint and the Johnson Space Center, I got to see a fair number of astronauts. Most were pretty cheerful and seemed like normal people. Some were pretty full of themselves. One ex-astronaut that was with a contractor sold autographed pictures of himself for $10. I don't know anyone that would admit to have bought one. He would give them out as "awards" to people that did "exceptional" service to his contract. :

Active astronauts were definitely pampered and were definitely the favored caste at JSC. Their actual job seemed really boring except for the couple times they got to go into space.

When involved in flight preparation, they would go over and over every detail of the flight with every what-if anyone could think of. There would be multiple crews for every flight so they would train for years knowing they weren't going to go. If they weren't preparing for a flight they were pretty much used like lab rats. Much of their day was spent waiting and watching.

Sometimes something would happen where I would really worry about how smart they were. We had two that became "overcome with fumes" when testing a possible adhesive for repairing shuttle tiles. I got involved in the investigation since it involved a chemical. Some of the components were highly toxic. Even low concentrations smelled terrible. They were lucky the area was well ventilated. The whole "new chemical procedure" had been totally ignored so it was really the civil servant program director that was responsible. The astronauts should have been more interested what they were using. I don't know how they could stand the smell before they got dizzy.