The Astronaut Who Drove 900 Miles in Diapers

What Happened

NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak had flown aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in July 2006 and was one of the most accomplished women in the U.S. space program. Behind the scenes, however, her 19-year marriage to Navy flight officer Richard Nowak had been deteriorating for years, and she had begun an affair with fellow astronaut William Oefelein in 2004.

In January 2007, Oefelein informed Nowak that he was in an exclusive relationship with Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman. Weeks later, in February 2007, Nowak drove approximately 900 miles from Houston to Orlando to confront Shipman at the airport. When police searched her car, Detective William Becton found two used diapers and 20 to 30 unused diapers in the trunk, along with a BB gun, pepper spray, a steel mallet, rubber tubing, and garbage bags.

Nowak pepper-sprayed Shipman through her car window at the Orlando airport parking garage. She was arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping, burglary of a car, and battery. The diaper detail, whether NASA-issue for long missions or not, became the most infamous element of the story and dominated global headlines for weeks.

The Nowaks formally separated in early 2007, and their divorce was finalized in 2008 after 19 years of marriage. Lisa Nowak pleaded guilty to felony burglary and misdemeanor battery in 2009. A Naval Board of Inquiry unanimously voted to reduce her rank from Captain to Commander and retire her under other-than-honorable conditions, ending her 25-year military career. The incident inspired the 2019 film Lucy in the Sky.

Legal Breakdown: How criminal charges during separation complicate divorce proceedings

What This Means for Your Divorce