Astronaut dismissed by NASA, returning to Navy

Astronaut Lisa Nowak has been dismissed by NASA and will return to active duty in the Navy, officials said Wednesday.

Nowak has been charged with attempted kidnapping and other alleged felonies in connection with a late-night encounter in Florida with a woman she saw as a rival for the affections of astronaut William Oefelein, a Navy commander.

Navy spokeswoman Lydia Robertson said Nowak will begin her new assignment March 21, working with the Chief of Air Training in Corpus Christi, Texas. Navy officials have said they will decide whether Nowak should face military charges after her criminal case runs its course.

The public dismissal of Nowak appears to be the first in the history of the astronaut corps, said space historian Roger Launius of the Smithsonian Institution. He said she is also the first astronaut on active duty ever charged with a felony.

Nowak, 43, pleaded innocent to charges of attempted kidnapping and burglary with assault stemming from her Feb. 5 confrontation at the Orlando, Fla., airport with Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman. Nowak was released on bail and is wearing a monitoring device on her ankle.

Nowak has said she stopped Shipman because she wanted to talk to her about Oefelein, but police said she pepper-sprayed the woman and tried to get into her car. Police initially recommended a charge of attempted murder against Nowak, but prosecutors decided against it.

NASA selected Nowak as a member of the astronaut class of 1996. She flew on one mission, in 2006, and was slated to be the lead Mission Control communications officer for the next shuttle mission.

In a statement, NASA said that it had “requested an end to the detail because the agency lacks the administrative means to deal appropriately with the criminal charges pending against Nowak. Because Nowak is a naval officer on assignment to NASA, rather than a NASA civil servant, she is not subject to administrative action by NASA.”

Word of NASA’s action came two days after court records in Florida showed that Nowak and Oefelein had been involved in a romantic relationship for some time, and that Oefelein had recently broken it off after meeting Shipman.

In a statement to detectives, Oefelein said the breakup occurred in January, and that Nowak “seemed a little disappointed” but accepted that he was dating another woman. However, on Feb. 5, Nowak left Houston and drove 900 miles to Orlando to confront Shipman, authorities said.