[bizarre nasa love triangle] simple explanation perhaps

First, the story here, including bio link, of the “apparent breakdown of Astronaut Lisa Nowak”, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal; Navy Achievement Medal, who tried to kidnap her love rival and possibly murder her.

Christopher Mims, blogger, says: If and when NASA finds out its astronauts have problems, what's it going to do in order to avoid embarrassment and possible tragedy? Take them off the flight list. What incentive does that leave astronauts to admit that they might have problems? None at all.

That’s one way to look at it. Another way is to ask what was a married woman with children doing vying for the affections of another astronaut anyway? Secondly, as she herself said, it was "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship." Yet she apparently wrote that she loved him.

So, a highly stressed, highly strung astronaut in the cold, clinical NASA world suddenly feels pangs of long dormant love – and what? Seems to me the man in it, the object of the affections, Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, needs to step in and put her straight about his own feelings, for a start.

Although driving in diapers and carrying weaponry and stun gas might be a little OTT, I can’t see that the emotion driving it is unusual in any way. I’d have been more worried if she'd been devoid of emotion, as cold as a fish.

NASA have given her extended leave to cool it and the media attempt to beat this up will fizzle away. Unless she truly is crazy, of course.