Former US astronaut comes face-to-face with love rival

FORMER US astronaut Lisa Nowak yesterday came face-to-face in court with the romantic rival she is accused of attacking after allegedly driving half-way across the United States wearing a nappy.

Nowak asked the court to remove the monitoring bracelet she has to wear pending her September 24 trial. But the woman she allegedly attacked and plotted to kidnap, testified that she is still scared of her.

Colleen Shipman, an air force officer, told the court in Orlando, Florida, she felt safer knowing Nowak wore the device.

“It gives me comfort,” she said. “When I’m all alone and there’s nobody with me, it’s a comfort,” she said.

Nowak said the ankle bracelet, which monitors her position through a satellite tracking device, lets off a loud siren-like blare if she fails to change batteries in time. As a result, she said, she seldom goes out to public places.

She also claimed the bracelet makes it difficult for her to exercise, something that is required of her as a US Navy officer.

“It limits the forms of exercise I can do,” said Nowak, who no longer works for NASA but is still a Navy pilot. It also costs her $105 a week.

She pledged she would abide by a court-imposed order to stay away from Shipman.

Nowak,44, also asked the court to throw out evidence and statements she said were obtained illegally.

A mother-of-three who has flown aboard Space Shuttle Discovery was arrested on February 5 after she allegedly approached Shipman’s car at the Orlando International Airport and doused her alleged romantic adversary with pepper spray, according to police.

Police found a steel mallet, a serrated knife and a loaded pellet gun in Shipman’s car.

Police said she drove more than 1,500 kilometres (900 miles) from Houston, Texas, to Orlando to attack Shipman, wearing a nappy so she would not have to take bathroom breaks. Shipman denies she had worn a diaper.