HOUSTON
(AP) -- Anyone who's read Tom Wolfe's "The Right Stuff'' or seen the movie based
on it knows about the mental and emotional stresses astronauts face as they
train for space travel. But those trying to explain the apparent breakdown of
Lisa Nowak say the pressure can be even higher for female astronauts, who not
only face the same work stresses as their male counterparts but often face high
expectations at home.
"They made
more sacrifices than the 'Right Stuff' guys,'' said Dr. Jon Clark, a former NASA
flight surgeon who lost his wife, astronaut Laurel Clark, in the 2003 Columbia disaster. "They have to balance two careers -- to be a mom and wife and an
astronaut. ... You don't come home at night, like most of the male astronauts,
and have everything ready for you.''
Clark said Nowak, charged with attempted
murder and attempted kidnapping in what police depict as a love triangle
involving a fellow astronaut, provided invaluable support to his family after
his wife's death, even when it cost her time with her own husband and three
children.
Nowak's
background -- high school valedictorian, Naval Academy graduate, test pilot --
seemed to equip her for the challenge. Yet as she and some of her acquaintances
acknowledged, the stresses on her and her family were extraordinarily intense.
On
Wednesday, transformed from space hero to criminal suspect, Nowak returned to Houston for a medical assessment.
She was met
on the tarmac by police and escorted into a waiting squad car after her release
on bail. Her head was covered by a jacket. She faced a medical exam at Johnson Space Center.
NASA said
it would revamp its psychological screening process in light of Nowak's arrest.
The review will look at how astronauts are screened for psychological problems
and whether Nowak's dealings with co-workers signaled complications.
Nowak has a
teenage son and 5-year-old twin girls with her husband, Richard, who works for
a NASA contractor. The couple separated a few weeks ago after 19 years of
marriage.
"She was
the epitome of managing a very hectic career, making sacrifices to accommodate
her family,'' Clark said in a telephone interview. "All those stresses can
conspire to be overwhelming. ... Clearly she suffered a lot of mental anguish.
"There is a
lot of marital stress in the astronaut corps in general -- a huge amount,'' Clark said. "It's not unheard of for things to change into relationships that are beyond
professional.''
Clark expressed empathy with Richard
Nowak.
"He was a
real low-key, go-with-the-flow, unobtrusive person,'' Clark said. "You almost
have to be to survive in the realm. ... It was hard on our marriage to have my
wife gone all the time, and eventually have her career surpass mine.''
Lisa Nowak
grew up in Rockville, Md., where she was co-valedictorian and a member of the
track team in high school. She graduated from the Naval Academy in 1985. The
class officers of her year said Wednesday in a statement released by Bryan
Caisse, the class secretary, that Nowak was "a great classmate and friend.''
"She never
hesitated to lend a hand or assist someone in need. She has been an incredible
role model as a Naval Officer, astronaut and mother, and has shared her success
with many others,'' the statement said.
Nowak
received a master's degree in aeronautical engineering, flew as a test pilot in
the mid-1990s while caring for an infant son, and became a full-fledged
astronaut in 1998.
"It's
definitely a challenge to do the flying and take care of even one child and do
all the other things you have to do. But I learned that you can do it,'' she
said in a recent interview with Ladies Home Journal.
Last July,
in the climax of her career, she flew on the space shuttle Discovery, helping
operate its robotic arm and winning praise for her performance.
However,
there were signs of turmoil in her life.
In
November, a neighbor reported hearing the sounds of dishes being thrown inside
Nowak's Houston home. And she had begun to form a relationship with William
Oefelein, a fellow astronaut and father of two whose own marriage ended in
divorce in 2005.
Police said
Nowak told them the relationship was "more than a working relationship but less
than a romantic relationship.''
Charlene
Davis, the mother of Oefelein's ex-wife, Michaella, said Wednesday that Nowak --
although friends with Oefelein for years -- had nothing to do with his marriage
breakup.
"I think
there were a lot of bad choices being made, and Lisa just made a horrible
one,'' Davis said in a telephone interview. "And I just feel sorry for her.
What the hell was she thinking?''
The final
unraveling came this week when police arrested Nowak for allegedly trying to
kidnap Colleen Shipman, an Air Force captain from Florida. Police said Nowak
believed Shipman was her rival for Oefelein's affections.
Police
charged Nowak with attempting to murder Shipman based on weapons and other
items found with Nowak or in her car: pepper spray, a BB-gun, a new steel
mallet, knife and rubber tubing. Nowak's lawyer, Donald Lykkebak, has said she
only wanted to talk to Shipman.
Those who
know Nowak away from the high-pressure atmosphere of NASA were stunned.
"I was very
surprised... She always seemed very normal to me,'' said Candis Silva, who
lives three houses down from the Nowaks. "She was a good role model for our
daughters.''
Thomas
Nagy, a Palo Alto, Calif., psychologist who has studied the stresses facing
dual-career couples, hesitated to offer any specific diagnosis of Nowak, but
said such seemingly desperate acts could result from a chronic personality
disorder or from a period of high stress that clouds one's judgment.
"When
people are in that role of trying to do everything to the Nth degree, they
don't get enough sleep, they don't do enough activities that are fun, they
don't get enough exercise,'' he said.
"If we
ignore those because we're trying to do it all, we pay a price -- more anxiety,
more depression.''
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