CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Astronaut Lisa Nowak was fired from NASA yesterday, a month after she was charged with trying to kidnap a woman she regarded as her romantic rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot.
Nowak's dismissal did not reflect the space agency's belief in her guilt or innocence, NASA officials said. The agency said it lacked an administrative system to handle the allegations because Nowak is a naval officer on assignment to NASA, rather than a NASA civil servant.
If Nowak were a civil servant, NASA would have the choice of placing her on administrative leave, leave without pay, or indefinite suspension until the charges are resolved, said NASA spokesman James Hartsfield in Houston. But because she is an officer, those options are not available.
Nowak, a Navy captain, will return to the military.
She will be assigned to the staff at the Chief of Naval Air Training in Corpus Christi, Texas, starting in two weeks, Navy Commander Lydia Robertson said. Robertson said she didn't know what specific job Nowak would be doing.
The space shuttle pilot who was the object of Nowak's affections, Navy Commander Bill Oefelein, remains on active duty while working for NASA. Robertson said she could not speculate whether his status is under review.
Chief astronaut Steve Lindsey notified Nowak late last month that she was to be fired from the astronaut corps. After her arrest, NASA placed Nowak on a 30-day leave, which was to end today.
It was the first time NASA has publicly fired an astronaut, according to space historian Roger Launius of the Smithsonian Institution. She is also the first active astronaut to be charged with a felony, he said.
Nowak, a mother of three, is accused of confronting Colleen Shipman, the woman who had become Oefelein's girlfriend, at the Orlando airport after driving from Houston. She allegedly pepper-sprayed Shipman through a partially lowered car window. Police found a BB gun, new steel mallet, a knife, and rubber tubing in Nowak's possession.
Nowak, 43, pleaded not guilty to attempted kidnapping and burglary with assault. She was released on bail wearing a monitoring device on her ankle.
