Crazy, diaper-wearing would-be murderer Lisa Nowak has been fired from NASA and returned to duty as a U.S. Navy captain.
Astronaut Lisa Nowak was fired from NASA on Wednesday, 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, instead 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 Cmdr. Lydia Robertson said. Robertson said she didn’t know what specific job Nowak would be doing.
The former Army officer in me sees much humor in this development.
Still, the woman is obviously mentally ill and needs some help. One would like to think she will be sent to a Navy hospital rather than assigned duties training young pilots.
