KEY POINTS:
ORLANDO - A married US astronaut was accused of attempted murder and trying to kidnap a rival for another astronaut's affections today, and held in jail.
Nowak was granted release on US$15,500 bail earlier yesterday on an attempted kidnapping charge and was ordered to wear a satellite device
to allow authorities to track her.
But then she was ordered held pending the new charge.
"There will be no release today. The Orlando police are filing additional charges of attempted first-degree murder," jail spokesman Allen Moore said.
Nowak was expected to appear at a hearing on the new charge tomorrow.
She told police she drove from Houston to the Orlando International Airport to confront Colleen Shipman, whom Nowak considered a rival for the attentions of fellow astronaut Bill Oefelein, the affidavit said.
Nowak, a married flight engineer with three children, was awaiting her next flight assignment after travelling on the shuttle Discovery in July 2006.
Oefelein was part of a separate shuttle Discovery mission in December that continued construction on the International Space Station. The Orlando Sentinel described Shipman as a captain in the US Air Force assigned to the 45th Launch Support Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base, near the Kennedy Space Centre.
Around midnight local time, police said, Nowak went to the airport disguised in a wig and trench coat, waited for Shipman's flight from Houston to arrive and then followed her to the parking garage armed with pepper spray, a steel mallet and a BB gun.
Nowak also carried black gloves, a folding knife with a 10cm blade, rubber tubing and rubbish bags.
In a taped statement given to police, Nowak described her connection to Oefelein as "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship".
According to the affidavit, police were called at 3.50am by Shipman, who told them she had been followed from the airport to a satellite parking lot by a dark-haired woman in glasses, wearing a trench coat with a hood pulled over her head.
Shipman told police she could hear the woman's footsteps running after her, so she jumped into her car and locked the doors quickly.
The woman pounded on Shipman's window, asked for a ride and to use her cellphone. Shipman refused but rolled down her window enough to be heard and was sprayed in the face by a chemical that burned her eyes, according to the affidavit. Shipman was able to drive to a toll booth for help.
Nowak said she did not intend to physically harm Shipman, but "scare Ms Shipman into talking with her".
In a search of Nowak's car, police later found nappies that Nowak told them she wore so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate during her drive. They also discovered a letter describing how much Nowak loved Oefelein, emails from Shipman to Oefelein and directions to Shipman's house.
Police recommended Nowak be held without bail due to the detailed planning, disguises and weapons found in her possession.
Johnson Space Centre spokesman James Hartsfield said: "As of now, her status at Nasa is unchanged. I cannot speculate beyond that."
- REUTERS
