Lisa Nowak

We no longer throw ticker-tape parades for our returning astronauts, said The Miami Herald in an editorial, but ?they still hold a special place in our collective national image.? That, presumably, explains our fascination with the strange, sad case of Lisa Nowak, whom tabloids have dubbed ?the astronut.? Nowak is the former space shuttle astronaut who slipped the surly bonds of sanity two weeks ago and drove 900 miles to pepper-spray, and allegedly try to kill, a love rival—all while wearing a diaper so as not to waste time on bathroom breaks. NASA has since promised to review its psychological screening processes, said Ellis Henican in Newsday, but the ?question lingers like the tail of a streaking comet. What sent a sane seeming woman over the moon like this??

As a former NASA training manager, I was ?not entirely surprised? to hear of Nowak?s meltdown, said Homer Hickam in the Los Angeles Times. With far too many astronauts vying for far too few slots, they face constant stress, even when they?re not preparing to be shot into space. Nowak isn?t the first of these ?overachievers? to have cracked under the pressure. It?s almost hardest on those who succeed, said The Hartford Courant in an editorial. They strive their whole lives to spend a few days in space, and then, suddenly, it?s over. Buzz Aldrin, for example, has struggled with depression ever since he returned from the moon. NASA should do a better job of preparing astronauts for the ?inevitable letdown? of returning to Earth.

I?ve identified the real source of Nowak?s stress, said Steve Barnes in the San Jose Mercury News: It?s that crazy little thing called ?love.? While experts try to quantify the havoc wreaked on Nowak?s mental health by the space program, they might also flip through Romeo and Juliet for a case study of how anyone can founder ?on the shoals of romantic obsession.? For all the diapered kookiness of Nowak?s story, ?at its heart the tale is as old and familiar as mankind.? Let?s face facts, said the Chicago Tribune in an editorial, ?lives come unglued every day for a multitude of reasons.? Nowak may have belonged to that handful of rare individuals with the intelligence, drive, and mental toughness to ?face the risks and challenges of space.? But like many of us, she couldn?t cope with the challenges of life on Earth. Nowak is remarkable only because ?she had a longer way to fall.?

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