OPINION: Space Oddity: Astronaut Had the Wrong Stuff

By Scott, The News Herald, Panama City, Fla.

Feb. 11–When I was a kid, I was a huge fan of the space program. One of my earliest memories was watching Apollo 11 land on the moon. I closely followed every Apollo mission and was one of the few Americans who seemed to care about the Skylab program and the orbital rendezvous with the Soviet Soyuz craft. I built model rockets, devoured every book on space exploration I could find and could recite the names of each astronaut on every Mercury, Gemini and Apollo flight the way others could recall the starting lineup of the 1961 New York Yankees. But almost as compelling is the absolutely bizarre, whacked-out story last week of the shuttle astronaut charged with attempting to murder her rival for a fellow shuttle astronaut’s affections. Talk about boldly going where no man or woman had gone before. Apparently, while the space program was worrying about the safe re-entry of its shuttles, it failed to anticipate the meltdown of one its crew members. Lisa M. Nowak allegedly drove 900 miles straight through from Houston to Orlando (using adult diapers to ensure she wouldn’t have to stop when nature called) to intercept Colleen Shipman as she deplaned at 1 a.m. Nowak approached her prey wearing a trenchcoat and wig and had a knife, BB pistol, steel mallet and latex gloves in her car. Nowak, a married mother of three, claimed she just wanted “to talk” to Shipman about her alleged relationship with astronaut William Oefelein, who piloted the most recent shuttle flight last December. When Shipman declined the opportunity for conversation in an airport parking garage, Nowak allegedly sprayed her with a caustic substance. Shipman fled the scene and contacted police, who arrested Nowak and charged her with attempted first-degree murder and other crimes. If convicted, she faces the possibility of life in prison. This is like manna from heaven for every tabloid newspaper and TV movie-ofthe-week producer. It’s NASA’s version of “The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom.” It shows how love (or lust) can drive almost anyone, male or female, crazy. Nowak had her head screwed on straight enough to graduate from the Naval Academy with a degree in aerospace engineering and become a naval aviator before entering the space program. Last July, she was a member of the Discovery crew that resupplied the International Space Station; her job was to operate the shuttle’s remote arm. And now she’s on the verge of throwing it all away on account of a man. Now there’s a space oddity. This probably wasn’t what NASA had in mind when it sought ways to rekindle public interest in the space program. Permanent bases on the moon? Manned missions to Mars? The costs are too expensive, the benefits too vague and far off. People pay attention only when one of the shuttles disintegrates — or an astronaut crashes and burns in her private life. The story is so soap operatic, the details so outlandish, that they invite parody and endless joking from the Jay Lenos and David Lettermans of the world. But that can’t obscure the fact that this a serious matter — a woman was physically threatened, allegedly by a U.S. astronaut who was selected for an elite program partly on the basis of her mental fortitude. Did NASA psychologists miss something in their evaluation of Nowak? Are there other astronauts who are similarly troubled beneath the surface? Is she capable of mentally compartmentalizing her life, keeping the stresses of her job separate from her personal life? Or did she snap from a combination of pressures? Well, better here on earth rather than in orbit. If nothing else, Nowak has reminded us that astronauts are human. Nearly 30 years ago, Tom Wolfe pierced the PR spin in “The Right Stuff,” his fascinating history of the early days of the U.S. space program. He showed the first seven astronauts to be heroic yet flawed individuals, worthy of respect even as they failed to live up to the mythology that surrounded them. Astronauts are talented people, not gods. Nowak wouldn’t be the first high achiever whose outward success masked inner demons. That was a hard lesson to learn after growing up idolizing the pioneers of space — a lesson that been taught numerous times by professional athletes and movie stars. So, as embarassing as this is to the space program, the evidence of human frailty underscores where the real damage lies: to Nowak’s family, especially her children. This is a tragedy born not of the heavens, but grounded firmly on Earth.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The News Herald, Panama City, Fla.

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