A married US astronaut accused of trying to kidnap a rival for another astronaut's affections was told she could go free on Tuesday but was ordered to wear a satellite tracking device.
US Navy Captain Lisa Nowak, who flew on the space shuttle Discovery in July 2006, is accused of driving 950 miles (1,529 km) from Houston to Orlando and then assaulting her rival, a US Air Force captain.
Nowak told police she wore adult diapers so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate while racing to confront the Air Force captain, whom she said she "only wanted to scare."
Nowak, 43, a flight engineer with three children, disguised herself in a dark wig, glasses and trench coat to confront Colleen Shipman, who she considered competition for the attentions of fellow astronaut Bill Oefelein, at Orlando International Airport, police said.
Nowak, wearing a jail uniform, shackled at the waist and head bowed, said little during her first court appearance on a video link from the Orange County jail, where she was held on charges of attempted kidnapping, attempted burglary of a vehicle and battery.
Orange County Circuit Judge Mike Murphy found probable cause for three charges including attempted kidnapping, and ordered her to wear a satellite-tracking device so authorities could monitor her whereabouts. She was granted $15,500 bond, which if she posts with the court could lead to her release later in the day.
Murphy ordered Nowak to have no contact with Shipman.
"No contact means no good contact or bad contact," he said. "You wouldn't even be allowed, not that you would ever do this, but you wouldn't even be allowed to send flowers to say 'I'm sorry.'"
Nowak went to Orlando airport around midnight on Sunday night, waited for Shipman's flight from Houston to arrive and then followed Shipman to the parking garage armed with pepper spray, a steel mallet and a BB gun, police said. Nowak also carried black gloves, a folding knife with a 4-inch (10-cm) blade, rubber tubing and trash bags, police said.
In her statement to police, Nowak said she did not intend to physically harm Shipman but "only wanted to scare Ms Shipman into talking with her." In the statement, 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 3:50 am (0850 GMT) by Shipman, who told them she had been followed from the airport to a parking lot by a dark-haired woman in glasses, wearing a trench coat with a hood pulled over her head.
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