Star Crossed: The Story of Astronaut Lisa Nowak

by Kimberly C Moore

The astronaut crime that shocked the world Star Crossed transports readers to the moment the news broke that one of America’s heroes, an astronaut who had flown aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery& just months before, had been arrested for a very bizarre crime. Lisa Nowak had driven 900 miles from Houston to Orlando to intercept and confront her romantic rival in an airport parking lot―allegedly using diapers on the trip so she wouldn’t have to stop. Nowak had been dating astronaut William “Billy” Oefelein when she learned that Oefelein was seeing a new girlfriend―U.S. Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman. The “astronaut love triangle” scandal quickly made headlines. The world watched as Nowak was dismissed from NASA, pleaded guilty to a felony, and received an “other than honorable” military discharge. An award-winning investigative reporter who covered Nowak’s criminal case, Kimberly Moore offers behind-the-scenes insights into Nowak’s childhood, her rigorous training, and her mission to space. Moore ventures inside the mind of the detective who studied the actions Nowak took that fateful February night. She includes never-before-told details of Nowak’s psychiatric diagnosis, taking a serious look at how someone so accomplished could spiral into mental illness to the point of possible attempted murder. This book spotlights the often-overlooked psychological health of astronauts, exploring how they are cared for by NASA doctors and what changes have been made in recent years to support space travelers on long-term missions. Expertly told, Moore’s story is a riveting journey inside the high-pressure world of one of America’s most elite agencies and the life of one beleaguered astronaut.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Biography, Crime

296 pages, Hardcover

Published September 1, 2020

Reviews

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had just given birth to my first child at the time of the incident that spurred the writing of this book. My husband and brother remember the events well, but somehow I didn't. I picked the book up off of an end cap display at my library.

This book was really well written and incredibly thorough. I had never before read such a detailed account of the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy, and I didn't know that the astronauts in the Challenger had survived the explosion of the fuel tank for any length of time. I hadn't ever before read a day-to-day breakdown of a shuttle flight, either. Those things were all obviously on top of the main story, that of Lisa Nowak.

I came away from the whole thing feeling sympathy for her, despite the poor choices she made and the potential evil intent. It's hard to know what she was planning, since she seemed so distraught and confused, and I know what sleep deprivation can do to your decision making abilities. Although she was certainly not innocent, and had compromised in many areas leading up to the events in Feb 2007, I agree with the NASA psychologist (Dr. Sanity), who said that William Oefelein bore responsibility in this matter as well. It doesn't say specifically in the book, but from what it does say, he doesn't seem to have been held to account by the Navy for his behavior. Maybe because I'm a woman I feel sympathy for Lisa Nowak, but Oefelein was stringing her along, knowingly or not, and it was messing with her mind. Colleen Shipman didn't really deserve to be caught up in it, obviously, but Oefelein misled her too, that Nowak shouldn't be of any concern. I can't believe she ended up marrying him.

Overall, I think that justice was served. I find it hard to believe that Nowak had a well-thought out plan. It seems like she was just gathering up a bunch of stuff, just in case, and she was just a crazed and desperate woman at her wit's end because she felt like her relationship with Oefelein was the only thing she had left and she had to "fix" it.

[Xanthi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this on audiobook format.
I remember hearing about this case years ago when it happened but didn’t know the details other than the infamous diaper thing.
Reading about the lack of psychological testing and ongoing care of NASA astronauts was surprising and dismaying. And although it could apply to this case to some degree, it still feels like the perpetrator got away very lightly, considering the seriousness of the incident. It wasn’t so much the pepper spraying (which was bad enough) but what was found in her car and on her person. It was the intent.
Plenty of strung out people carry out murders and assaults. The fact that this one didn’t go beyond the pepper spraying was due to quick action and luck of the victim. And plenty of people get more than a slap on the wrist, which is what this person got because of her occupation and status. One law for some, and a different one for others, yet again.
I found the backwards and forwards timeline jumping a bit jarring and the inclusion of so much word for word transcripts between Nowak and the police tedious. ( all those ‘ums’ and ‘ahs ‘ for example). The author could have just paraphrased or included short quotes Or summaries.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing is a little simplistic but I give the author credit for handling this subject matter with objectivity and empathy. I had heard of this case and had seen the many memes but wanted to see if there had been something deeper written on the subject that would eschew the sensationalism for a look into the tragic questions that certainly linger around this event. I appreciated that Moore did tackle some questions that were on my mind, namely how someone with such an incredible academic and professional trajectory that required the highest level of discipline imaginable could get so completely derailed by the personal. Further, I appreciated that Moore uncovered the historically systematic lack of professional and psychological care under NASA. There is a lot of interest in the book ion that front.

[Julie Olver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating story, so so delivery

[ivelived1000lives · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a person who is really interested in both space history (although mostly in the ealier US programs) and true crime, this was an obvious pick.

Pretty much all I knew of this case prior to reading this book involved (need I specify) the infamous diapered cross-country ride. Learning that she actually never wore a diaper is in itself interesting, an indictment of media sensationalism and of our collective appetite for lurid details which feeds the rumor mill and creates the almost mythical aura surrounding some true crime cases.

What Star Crossed mostly illustrates is what happens when high-achieving type A individuals feel like they are losing control of an up until then planned and predictacle life geared toward clear goals which, when finally achieved, leave an unberable void. The very detailed look we get into Nowak’s life gave the image of somebody who followed the most prestigious possible life course on autopilot, thinking the perfect family and the highest-profile job would finally make her (and her parents) content. One divorce (and here one subject which is touched upon and not expanded on enough in my opinion is the very different mental charge beween astronauts fathers, who usually have a partner taking on the vast majority of child-rearing activities so they can travel and go on their merry way, and astronauts mothers who have to tackle both a demanding job and kids lest they be branded bad mothers), one space shuttle tragedy, one realization that she would not fly again, later, and the only thing which she still clung on to (her boyfriend) was also slipping through her fingers. This is what finally sent her over the edge (and of course she didn’t go unleash her distress on the man who led her on, no no, better yet to go and assault the oblivious « other woman ». Women cannot catch a break, even from other women.)

It’s a story as old as time, with parallels with other astronauts, the most famous being Buzz Aldrin, who is referenced in the book, but also Yuri Gagarin who was never allowed into space again because of the Soviet status symbol he had become, and also brought to mind Bobby Fisher, who, with nowhere higher to go after becoming world champion, slowly started losing his ever-loving mind (shout-out in passing to his amazing biography, Endgame, which I highly recommend). It should be noted that mental disorders and/or addictions are also usally part of the mix creating that "perfect storm".

The story is interesting because of what it says about the lack of emphasis on psychological care at NASA (and how a fiercely macho and competitive culture prevents astronauts from confessing to psychological distress in the first place), but unfortunately the writing style is not very flowy, both due to some of the author’s choices (like that of devoting a chapter to every excruciating detail of Nowak’s shuttle mission, or listing the entire CVs of characters, and these people have extensive CVs) and through no fault of her own (except maybe in that we didn’t need so much of it included to get the gist of it), to the initial police interviews, which are TORTURE to listen to (man, between her non-sequitur, repetitive and broken answers to the detective’s weird statements and questions, it was a psychological ordeal in its own right). I have no idea how many different versions of « Where is your car? » and « I just wanted to talk to her » I had to endure, but I emerged on the other side a different person.
NB: Nowak does really do credit to the lauded astronaut’s ability to come up with creative scenarios under pressure in those pages: nothing says « I just want to have an honest woman-to-woman talk with you » like driving for days, stalking a woman for hours in an airport and sporting a bag full of knives, surgical tubing and hammers. (I’m kidding of course, I do realize she was in no state to be able to come up with anything better.)

Overall, I feel like this book could have had a better impact as a really detailed magazine piece, because while some detours are important in order to understand Nowak’s mental circumstances (like her childhood or the Columbia disaster), other parts seem to drone on and made me wear out the back button on my audiobook because of repetitive mind wandering. The possibility that is explored at the end of her having Asperger’s syndrome does also explain a lot and helps put the events in a different perspective.

Lisa Nowak’s story goes well beyond the « as strong a woman as you may be, love can turn you into the stupidest of creatures » (although there’s some truth to that), but it would have benefited from a better edited text. Still, it was a story worth telling right, beyond the simplistic scenario of
« Hell hath no fury like an overducated diaper-wearing astronaut scorned ».

[Christine Cazeneuve · Rating 5 out of 5]

First thank you to Eidelweiss+ and the publisher for an advanced e-ARC book in exchange for my honest opinion. I remember this story when it happened and following it on the news. I was baffled thinking how someone who was so capable and intelligent could be driven to such extremes. This book goes beyond the need stories and wiki pages right to the heart of it. Covers so much detail of her life as well as the demands of the space program. A great read that doesn't disappoint.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

BANANAS! True crime, NASA mini biographies, reporter memoir, local (to me) author, psycological deep dive... This was a fantastic audiobook for my runs. I was riveted!

"The main reason [I wrote the book]... I covered the criminal case, but from the moment I heard about it, I'm like, how can somebody so accomplished and brilliant basically lower themselves to our level, to a level of a mere mortal, and lose their mind over a man?" Kimberly Moore in an interview

[BallHer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book would have been more accurately described as a recent history of NASA with the story of Lisa Nowak intertwined.

I kept thinking “get back to the point” because there were so many ancillary stories and unnecessary background info on other astronauts that didn’t have anything to do with Nowak.

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contained a lot more information than the specifics about the crime, including a more in depth look on the effects of a career as an astronaut (and going into space) has on the mental state. I loved that it included transcripts from the police interview. Very interesting and well written.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, somewhat technical at first, well written, so interesting.

[Sandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring did not like.

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stopped reading this book a while ago but forgot to remove it from my list.
It's just not that enjoyable to me. A little too drawn out and just the style doesn't work

[Ryan Hannay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book proves that love is so powerful it can turn a literal rocket scientist into a completely insane moron.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this 4 stars because it is a fascinating criminal case, and because it involves space and NASA. I have read a lot about both the Challenger and the Columbia failures and I was not at all surprised to learn in this book of NASA's long history of denying that problems exist and then scrambling to do damage control when its hidden and toxic nature leads to disaster. And the case of Lisa Nowak was certainly a disaster. The only difference is that nobody was killed in spite of the overwhelming evidence that Lisa went to Orlando with the intent to murder Colleen Shipman.

From a writing standpoint, this was more of a 2.5 - 3.0 stars book. The editing was pretty bad, which for readers like me is a big thing. Also, the chapter "The Right Psycholgical Stuff" was way too long. Showing that NASA has a history of neglect could have been done more succinctly. For example, I wish more words had been devoted to this case instead of Buzz Aldrin's failed marriages and flamboyant lifestyle. The most interesting thing coming from all of it was that, in true NASA fashion, it only implemented changes to psychological testing, care, and support for astronauts AFTER the Nowak case hit the news.

Also, prior to the Nowak case, NASA never had an astronaut code of conduct? Shameful.

Lastly, I completely agree with the author that Billy Oefeline was culpable in many ways for what happened. Just a hot shot astronaut stepping out on his wife, sleeping around, not being honest and then remaining silent tells us all we need to know. I know this will be an unpopular statement, but Nowak deserved better.