This puts a real dent in my hopes for peace through space travel:
Ms. Nowak, a married mother of three who police believe was in a love triangle with a fellow astronaut, was charged with trying to abduct a woman she saw as her romantic rival, authorities said. Ms. Nowak faces charges including attempted kidnapping, attempted vehicle burglary with battery, destruction of evidence and battery. Police said she drove more than 1,400 kilometres, donned a disguise and was armed with a BB gun and pepper spray when she confronted a woman she believed was a competitor for the affections of Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein.A BB gun! What about that secret death ray pistol NASA has been working on? Is this really how astronauts fight? I am greatly disappointed.
Comments
Chris Taylor - February 6, 2007 11:11 am
To be fair she was a mission specialist, which is the spaceflight equivalent of a lab-coat-swaddled, clipboard-carting egghead. Although they are generally known as astronauts in the real world, there is a big prestige difference between mission specialist astronauts (a.k.a. passengers who perform stuff once the shuttle gets on-orbit) and pilot-astronauts (square-jawed men and women with short haircuts that pilot the craft into orbit). Pilots get uber-cool astronaut aviator wings whereas the specialists get those science-fair "Competitor" ribbons.
Alan - February 6, 2007 11:15 am
So the move to a BB gun is most likely an egghead diversionary tactic to draw our attention away from the building of the gateways. Brilliant.
Chris Taylor - February 6, 2007 11:42 am
And just between us, clipboards got replaced by PDAs, which are being replaced by iGizmos from a certain Urban Hipster Co., Inc.
Alan - February 6, 2007 12:43 pm
Those clipboards, though, are like Soviet reliance on tube technology for their nuclear program. Follow the clipboards.