Fired astronaut is headed to Corpus Christi



Web Posted: 03/08/2007 12:18 AM CST

Mark Carreau
Houston Chronicle

Astronaut Lisa Marie Nowak's 10-year career with NASA ended
abruptly Wednesday in a first-of-its-kind dismissal that a space
historian called "a soft landing" for the troubled Navy captain.

NASA said it had reached an agreement for Nowak to return to
Navy duty, which has an administrative structure that can deal
with the pending criminal case against her.

Nowak will report to Corpus Christi on March 21, where she'll
serve on the staff of the Chief of Naval Air Training, Rear Adm.
Donald Quinn.

Never before in NASA's 49-year history had the agency asked the
military to take back an astronaut, said James Hartsfield, a
spokesman for the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where Nowak
was based.

Nowak's well publicized arrest last month in Florida flung NASA
into uncharted territory. While making her the *** of painful
jokes by late night talk show hosts, it also raised questions
about the agency's policies for detecting and treating
astronauts with possible psychological problems.

She was charged with attempted kidnapping and other felonies
Feb. 5 after confronting Colleen Shipman, a 30-year-old U.S. Air
Force captain, at Orlando International Airport.

Shipman had become the lover of astronaut William Oefelein, a
Navy commander, after his romantic relationship with Nowak,
according to the trio's police statements made public this week.

Her removal came two days before Nowak was to return to NASA
duty after a 30-day leave imposed by the agency. She was one of
135 military and civilian men and women assigned to NASA
astronaut corps.

Nowak, who was one of seven astronauts on a July mission aboard
the shuttle Discovery that marked NASA's recovery from the 2003
Columbia disaster, wouldn't comment Wednesday on her dismissal.

"This gives NASA a way to resolve this particular issue with
Nowak. It goes away for them," said Howard McCurdy, a space
historian at American University in Washington.

"It gives her a soft landing, which is a nice thing to do. The
Navy is accustomed to dealing with people who have psychological
stress problems, especially those who come back from combat."
.