Spaced Out?
Published on Feb 6, 2007 at 10:08 am.
7 Comments.
Filed under astronauts.
I know most of you have probably heard this on the news already, and I normally like to write about different things, but this is just too unusual to pass up. Lisa Nowak was apparently seeing a man, William Oefelein. But, she is married. So, right away you know that no good can come of this. Worse, they work together. Office romances often are problems. In fact, I think that you are probably better off with someone who is not even in your line of work. That gets rid of all sorts of problems and professional rivalries. Then add to this mix that Nowak has three children, so she is putting her whole family in jeopardy with this relationship. So, again, this is wrong. And, she should know better. She is highly educated, intelligent, and goal driven. Her whole career she has been heading towards one goal, and she’s let nothing get in the way of that. Oh, and then you add to the mix that Oefelein was romantically involved with another woman, Colleen Shipman (whom he also works with, though not as directly as he does with Nowak). Now, if Nowak were smart, she’d have broken off all interaction with Oefelein. But, that isn’t what she does. Not at all, in fact.
Shipman flies from Houston to Orlando, Florida, on what I would imagine was a business trip (her employer has two major installations in Houston and near Orlando). I can only imagine that Nowak and Shipman must have had some words with one another prior to this, because Nowak decides to drive all the way from Houston to Orlando to meet Shipman’s plane. Something would have had to trigger that. That, already, is extremely strange. But, making it even more bizarre, Nowak doesn’t want to stop for restroom breaks, so she wears a diaper on the trip! Hey, she’s going to have to stop for gas now and then on a nearly 1000 mile trip, so how much longer would it take to run to the bathroom???? Nowak meets Shipman at the airport wearing a wig and trenchcoat as a disguise, tries to force her way into Shipman’s car, and upon failing douses her with pepper spray. She is arrested, arraigned, and now released on bail, wearing a monitoring device. All very strange, and very sad.
Oh, and all three work with NASA. Nowak and Oefelein are astronauts, and Shipman is an engineer. Also, all three work with the Department of Defense. Nowak and Oefelein are commissioned officers in the Navy, and Shipman works at the Patrick Air Force Base, adjacent to the Kennedy Space Center, which is near Orlando. So, naturally, all this gets lots of press attention.
This would have been bad enough without the massive media attention. But, that just makes it worse — for all involved. Nowak’s career, that she had worked so hard for, is now down the toilet. NASA is very public relations sensitive. They will not put up with this. But, being so public relations sensitive, that means that Oefelein’s career as an astronaut also has a major black mark against it. His career may also be dead. Of course, he should have also known that messing around with a married woman can come to no good. Both of them are in the Navy. This is a public relations mess for them, too. They are not going to be happy about it. Military astronauts are assigned to work with NASA. What do you want to be that Oefelein gets reassigned? There are no rules against astronauts dating. There are no rules against naval officers dating each other (as long as one isn’t directly subordinate to the other). But, the Navy does have rules against married officers dating. And these two knew that. Even if they didn’t know that what they were doing was morally wrong, they did know that it was against the rules. And, how Nowak could ever rationalize that her actions would not come back to haunt her baffles me. But, it finally dawned on her, I think. At the top of this post, I’ve posted her NASA photograph along with her mugshot taken when she was arrested. While mugshots are seldom good, she looks downright bad in this one. I think she realizes what a mess she’s made of everything.
Like I said, I normally don’t post things like this, but this was just too bizarre of a news story to pass up.
-Astroprof
Seeking Solace on February 6, 2007 at 10:50 am: 1
I just heard about this on my local talk radio station. I was wondering if you were going to comment about it. Thanks for sharing!
Ed Minchau on February 6, 2007 at 1:26 pm: 2
Before everyone jumps to conclusions here, let’s all remember that she’s innocent until proven guilty.
Astroprof on February 6, 2007 at 2:16 pm: 3
Good point, Ed. They are all innocent until proven guilty. There is no proof that she went there to do anything except to argue. Anything else is speculative. Also, there is no proof that there was ever any relationship between Nowak and Oefelein. There are only media reports of what she told the police, and she might have such a poor grasp of reality that she took a purely professional relationship and made it into something more. But, even so, I think that the NASA PR people will make sure that both of them are off of any future missions, and no longer associated with NASA in the news. And that is extra sad if this was all indeed a misunderstanding.
profgrrrrl on February 6, 2007 at 9:43 pm: 4
That whole diaper thing is kind of disturbing.
Pete Krohn on February 7, 2007 at 7:58 am: 5
innocent until ‘proven’ guilty? ha! homeland security and airport security people have already damned her as well as orlando cop taking the report. when a whiney woman (shipman) squeals loud and long, cops tend to stomp all over whatever it is that creates the work they must then perform. no one, especially the cops/security take into account the psychological context which is happening to either party at the time, they want to convict and slam people in jail for any digression from their own personal peaceful reality concept. witness also (a now a ruined woman for what?, another sleazy man (Oefelein) who shlepped her into bed and beyond.
Darnell Clayton on February 8, 2007 at 1:32 pm: 6
This definitely does not help out NASA, and as AstroProf said this will probably be a career ender for all three in the public sector (no advancements, no mobility).
Unless they join the alt.space group, they may as well as put their dreams of orbiting the stars on hold indefinitely.
Very, very sad.
Astronomy Buff - Lisa Nowak, Would You Be My Valentine? on February 12, 2007 at 6:56 pm: 7
[…] Now, people are saying terrible things about you. Bloggers are going crazy. AstroProf was morally offended by your plan, and later lamented that it would signal a decline of NASA’s funding for future space exploration. […]