NASA Embarrassment Continues

Ah, to be an employee of NASA these days. Despite delays, the next space shuttle flight is poised to blast off next month... the agency has had tremendous success with its unmanned space programs... oh, and then there's that darn love triangle thing, that they'd be more than happy to forget.

You remember, and ANN reported on astronaut Lisa Nowak, who drove 900 miles from Houston to Orlando in a diaper-type thing to confront her rival.

At the center of that infamous love triangle-turned-violent was astronaut Bill Oefelein, an experienced Navy test pilot and fighter pilot and astronaut. Nearly four months since his personal life made world-wide headlines, NASA is cutting ties with the 42-year old, reports the Orlando Sentinel, and astronaut Bill will return to the military June 1.

A NASA spokesman would not discuss the end of Oefelein's space career, saying only that it is time for him to return to the Navy.

"The Navy and NASA mutually agreed to end his detail" with NASA, agency spokesman Jim Rostohar said at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston. "NASA determined his detail was no longer necessary."

Oefelein, most recently flew on shuttle Discovery in December and has been working at various technical assignments at JSC in recent months, Rostohar said.

Nowak and Oefelein were reportedly engaged in a romantic relationship for several years. Oefelein informed Nowak late last year he had chosen to pursue an exclusive relationship with Shipman, a 30-year-old US Air Force officer stationed at Cape Canaveral, FL.

Nowak, a married mother of three, did not take well to being a "former" girlfriend and was accused of stalking and pepper-spraying Shipman Feb. 5 in a parking lot at Orlando International Airport. She is facing felony charges for that attack, during which she allegedly wore a wig and trench coat when she confronted Shipman.

But back to former astronaut Bill.

Lt. Cmdr. Doug Gabos would not say Friday where Oefelein, who holds the rank of commander, would be reporting to duty next week, as the details are still being worked out. Gabos would also not comment on any disciplinary action that Oefelein might face.

"His case will be reviewed by his new commander, but we're not going to speculate on any possible outcome of his case," Gabos said.

A native of Alaska, Oefelein earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, joined the Navy, and earned his wings as a naval aviator in 1990. His early assignments included overseas deployments to the Persian Gulf as a fighter pilot.

After attending TOPGUN, the Navy Fighter Weapons School, Oefelein graduated in 1995 from the Navy's test-pilot school, where he later taught. In 1998, he was working as a strike-operations officer for a carrier wing in Virginia when he received "the call" that he had been selected to join NASA's astronaut corps.

"A lot of folks who do that test-pilot work also went on to fly space shuttles," Oefelein said in an interview before his space voyage. ". . . at that point, it just seemed natural for me to go to the next phase and try to fly space shuttles."

During his December 12-day mission in space, Oefelein and six crewmates helped rewire the electrical system aboard the international space station.

And an update on Lisa Nowak. With a trial set for September, Nowak faces a possible life sentence on charges of attempted kidnapping and burglary with an assault.

Military experts say Nowak and Oefelein also could be court-martialed on a charge of "conduct unbecoming an officer."

Nowak is separated and Oefelein is divorced.

FMI: www.nasa.gov