Lighter Penalties Assessed As Evidence Was Thrown Out

Former astronaut Lisa Nowak, who had faced charges of attempted kidnapping, burglary, and battery, pleaded guilty Tuesday to lesser charges of felony burglary of a car and a battery misdemeanor in an agreement reached with prosecutors.

Nowak had allegedly driven from Houston, Texas to Orlando, Florida in February of 2007 to confront Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman. Both Nowak and Shipman were reportedly seeing the same man, fellow astronaut Cmdr. William A. Oefelein. Nowak said she wanted to "scare" Shipman into speaking with her about the situation.

Nowak faced Shipman in court and apologized. Shipman had said she was afraid Nowak was going to kill her.

The New York Times reports that much of the evidence that was found in Nowak's car was thrown out over the course of the trial, including the infamous diapers that were the focus of so many late-night television jokes. Nowak's attorney told the Times that the diapers were the “biggest lie in this preposterous tale.”  He said if there were diapers in the car, they were left over from Shipman's family's evacuation from hurricane Katrina.

Nowak, who had flown on Discovery on a mission to ISS, and Oefelein were both dropped from the astronaut corps in 2007. Sentencing for Nowak has not been set.

FMI: www.nasa.gov