You can still do some pretty dumb things....
From Houston Chronicle....
ORLANDO, Fla. — A magistrate's hearing on an attempted-murder charge against NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak of Houston has been scheduled for 3 p.m. today.
Authorities said they added the charge based on the fact that the materials Nowak had acquired for a showdown with Air Force Capt. Colleeen Shipman could have been used to kill her.
Until the new charge was lodged today, Nowak was eligible to post bond and return to Houston pending trial on a variety of charges lodged early Monday, including attempted kidnapping and battery of Shipman.
Nowak told police she wanted to confront Shipman because she believed they were competing for the affections of Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, another NASA astronaut.
Police said Nowak drove 900 miles, donned a disguise and was armed with a BB gun and pepper spray when she confronted Shipman.
Nowak, 43, a Navy captain and married mother of three, flew to the international space station last July aboard space shuttle Discovery.
Oefelein, 41, piloted the space shuttle Discovery in December. He and Nowak trained together but never flew a mission together.
Nowak told police that her relationship with Oefelein was "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to an arrest affidavit. Police found a love letter to Oefelein in her car.
When Nowak found out Shipman was flying to Orlando from Houston, Nowak decided to confront her early Monday, according to the arrest affidavit.
Nowak raced from Houston to Orlando wearing diapers in the car so she wouldn't have to stop to go to the bathroom, authorities said. Astronauts wear diapers during launch and re-entry.
Dressed in a wig and a trench coat, she waited for Shipman's plane to land and then boarded the same airport shuttle bus Shipman took to get to her car, police said. Shipman told police she noticed someone following her, hurried inside the car and locked the doors, according to the arrest affidavit.
Nowak rapped on the window, tried to open the car door and asked for a ride. Shipman refused but rolled down the car window a few inches when Nowak started crying, the statement said. Nowak then sprayed a chemical into Shipman's car, the affidavit said. Shipman drove to the parking lot booth and police were called.
An officer reported following Nowak and watching her throw away a bag containing the wig and BB gun. Police also found a steel mallet, a 4-inch folding knife, rubber tubing, $600 and garbage bags inside a bag Nowak was carrying when she was arrested, authorities said.
Oefelein and Shipman, who worked at Patrick Air Force Base near the Kennedy Space Center, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
NASA spokesman James Hartsfield in Houston said that, as of Monday, Nowak's status with the astronaut corps remained unchanged. "What will happen beyond that, I will not speculate," he said.
Hartsfield said he couldn't recall the last time an astronaut was arrested and said there were no rules against fraternizing among astronauts.
According to NASA's official biography, Nowak is a Naval Academy graduate who has a master's degree in aeronautical engineering. She has a teenage son and younger twin girls.
Oefelein has two children and began his aviation career as a teenager flying floatplanes in Alaska, according to a NASA biography. He studied electrical engineering at Oregon State University and later earned a master's degree in aviation systems at the University of Tennessee Space Institute. He has been an astronaut since 1998.
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