WASHINGTON (AP) - From the
dawn of the space program, America's
astronauts have been treated like stars, saluted as red-white-and-blue
heroes, and indoctrinated in NASA's can-do, failure-is-not-an-option ethos.
Could that explain the downfall
of Lisa Nowak, the astronaut accused of
attempted murder? Were the expectations too high? The pressures too great?
No one may ever know
exactly why Nowak
drove 900 miles (about 1,500 kilometers) to confront a
woman who was reportedly her rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot, but experts
say the same traits that make astronauts such high achievers can combine to
aggravate emotional problems and strain relationships.
"I really believe that NASA goes overboard in promoting how
heroic and super all these people are,'' said Dr. Patricia Santy, a former NASA
psychiatrist and author of the book "Choosing The Right Stuff.''
"They themselves have
forgotten these are ordinary people and in that kind of celebrity culture,
there's a sense of entitlement.''
Santy said the astronaut corps is "like a family,
but it's almost like a dysfunctional family when it comes to understanding that
these interpersonal issues have profound impacts.''
Former astronaut Jerry
Linenger said astronauts take pride in their self-discipline, "and you set
a goal and it's just going, going, going and you let nothing get in your way.''
That single-minded pursuit
reminds Linenger of Nowak's drive from Houston to Orlando, Fla., to confront an
Air Force captain from Florida who she allegedly believed was involved with the
same space shuttle pilot she loved.
In a statement, officials
at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida said the captain, Colleen Shipman,
remained on duty and was "holding up well considering the circumstances.''
However, Linenger said,
that's when Nowak's training should have kicked in and led her to reflect on
her actions: "To not make a midcourse correction is scary. It's just off her
training and everything else.''
Nowak, like many of her
colleagues, pursued a career in spaceflight since childhood. Then, after her
shuttle trip last summer, her goal had been achieved, and the prospects for
another mission were dim, even though she remained in the prime of her life at
age 43.
Space shuttles are
scheduled to be retired in 2010, and many astronauts have been told that second
and third spaceflights will be tough to get. A replacement spacecraft will not
be ready until several years later.
Other astronauts have
struggled with similar doubts about their future.
"The biggest problem that
every astronaut has had once they've obtained their goal is 'What do I do next,
what do I focus on?','' said Jay Barbree, a longtime NBC correspondent who has
covered every launch and is the author of the upcoming book "Live From Cape
Canaveral.''
"It was more commonplace
than most people knew because overachievers had no major goals in front of
them.'' Among earlier astronauts, "most every one of them came back had
adjustment issues,'' Barbree said.
NASA flight crew operations
chief Ellen Ochoa said the agency is considering whether to do more to look
after astronauts once they return from space. "Individuals may wonder where
they fit in,'' she said. "It's a puzzle.''
Buzz Aldrin, the second
man to step on the moon, became
depressed and had problems with alcohol after returning to Earth.
Aldrin said the space
agency "can deal with the physics and engineering and the science of things.
They behave according to predictability. But you can't predict the human
reaction and response and how complex it is. It is not easy for NASA.''
Nowak "had to be somehow
asking the question 'What do I do next?,''' Aldrin said Thursday. He said there
is no good system to support astronauts after their spaceflight days are over: "Nobody
is helping them readjust. It's hard for NASA to take on that responsibility.''
University of California
psychiatrist Nick Kanas, who has conducted four studies of astronauts' mental
health, said space travelers at times have adjustment issues, but not quite the
dramatic changes that people report anecdotally.
"We didn't find big
personality changes as a group,'' Kanas said. "They have to adjust and that is
certainly something that happens. For it to reach mental illness proportion is
really kind of rare.''
He compared astronauts'
problems to those of a retiring baseball player.
"When you retire at a
fairly young age, if you don't have a backup at a fairly young age, it's going
to be a letdown,'' Kanas said.
The Russians even have a
name, asthenization, for space mental health problems. The term is usually
reserved for people who have flown at least six weeks, as opposed to Nowak's
shorter flight, and plays out with fatigue, irritability, lack of appetite and
sleep problems, Kanas said.
In response to Nowak's
arrest, NASA on Wednesday launched two separate
reviews of how astronauts are psychologically
evaluated.
In the military, pilots
going through extraordinary stress, such as a divorce, are ordered to seek
help, but not at NASA, Santy said.
"They wouldn't think of
flying a malfunctioning screw or a screw that had a flaw on it. They'd ground
the shuttle,'' Santy told The Associated Press. "They don't imagine that
problems in the human element have just as catastrophic consequences.''
American University
professor Howard McCurdy, who has written several books about space policy and
history, said the stress of working in the space program puts pressure on
personal relationships and results in higher divorce rates among astronauts.
Astronauts, like police
officers, treat their profession as a way of life, not just a job, he said.
"The astronaut culture is
still a carry over from 'The
Right Stuff' days,'' McCurdy said. "It is very high intensity; it is very
competitive.''
Associated Press writers
Malcolm Ritter in New York and Mike Schneider in Cape Canaveral, Fla.,
contributed to this report.
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