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Astronaut Faces Attempted-Murder Charges

Lisa Marie Nowak, a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Discovery flight in 2006, was arrested Feb. 5 in Orlando after allegedly attacking a woman.
Orange County Jail via Getty Images
Lisa Marie Nowak, a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Discovery flight in 2006, was arrested Feb. 5 in Orlando after allegedly attacking a woman.

In what NASA is calling a bizarre and sad story, an astronaut is being accused of attempted kidnapping and murder.

Police say that Lisa Nowak planned to kidnap and kill someone she considered a romantic rival for the affection of another astronaut.

Nowak, 43, is a married mother of three. She has been an astronaut for more than a decade. Her first space flight took place last summer, when she blasted off into space on the Fourth of July.

After the charge of attempted murder was added to the accusations against Nowak, the judge in the case raised her bail to $25,000.

The case is unprecedented in the history of the space agency's elite astronaut corps.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Nell Greenfieldboyce is a NPR science correspondent.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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