What Drove Lisa Nowak From Astronaut To Accused Attempted Murderer?
Posted February 8, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s the question the whole world is asking: what could have driven a respected NASA astronaut from the void of space to the nadir of alleged attempted kidnapping and attempted murder charges in just over six months?
The query surrounds Lisa Nowak, the former shuttle crew member who’s accused of trying to kill her lover’s rival.
By now you know the incredible tale. Prosecutors say Nowak took off on a 1,400 mile journey from Houston to Orlando, wearing adult diapers so she wouldn’t have to stop for bathroom breaks.
Her alleged goal: revenge on Colleen Shipman, who supposedly stole the affections of fellow astronaut Bill Oefelein.
The 43-year-old is accused of pepper spraying the woman, and was found with a B.B. gun, a steel mallet, a knife, some rubber tubing and garbage bags in her possession.
She was released on bail Wednesday and her plight has moved the space agency to fine tune its psychological testing.
Nowak certainly had the Right Stuff when it comes to what NASA is looking for in an astronaut.
She was her high school’s valedictorian, she graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, she was a test pilot and she earned the right to head into space on the shuttle last July.
So what could possibly have happened between then and now to spur such a drastic change?
Experts speculate the trigger may have been the recent break-up of her 19-year marriage.
Add that to the pressures of juggling a demanding space career and being a mother – Nowak has three children – and the stress may have simply been overwhelming.
“They have to balance two careers – to be a mom and wife and an astronaut,” explains former NASA flight surgeon Dr. Jon Clark, a friend of Nowak’s. “You don’t come home at night, like most of the male astronauts, and have everything ready for you.
“She was the epitome of managing a very hectic career, making sacrifices to accommodate her family.”
But there were signs things were going wrong as recently as November, when neighbours heard dishes smashing in the family home.
And her attachment to the recently divorced Oefelein began to get out of hand. It was “more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship,” police claim Nowak told them.
The mother of Oefelein’s ex-wife insists the woman had nothing to do with her son’s failed marriage.
“I think there were a lot of bad choices being made, and Lisa just made a horrible one,” Charlene Davis claims. “And I just feel sorry for her. What the hell was she thinking?”
“There is a lot of marital stress in the astronaut corps in general – a huge amount,” Clark adds. “It’s not unheard of for things to change into relationships that are beyond professional.”
Friends are having trouble reconciling the woman they knew to the one that’s been dominating headlines this week.
“I was very surprised,” agrees neighbour Candis Silva. “She always seemed very normal to me. She was a good role model for our daughters.”
Psychologist Thomas Nagy wouldn’t comment directly on the Nowak case, but reveals it’s not unusual for perfectionists in high pressure jobs to snap.
“When people are in that role of trying to do everything to the Nth degree, they don’t get enough sleep, they don’t do enough activities that are fun, they don’t get enough exercise,” he points out.
“If we ignore those because we’re trying to do it all, we pay a price – more anxiety, more depression.”
Nowak’s lawyer insists his client was simply trying to talk to Shipman and that the publicity over the incident has been vastly overblown. He intends to prove it when the case eventually goes to court.
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