Was An Official NASA Jet Sent to Pick Up Lisa Nowak?
Editor’s note: Check this Flight schedule for NASA2 Gulfstream – from Ellington Field to and back from the KSC SLF. Was this routine or was it related to the Lisa Nowak case? Using government transport to get her home was discussed internally at NASA. Nowak was released late Monday afternoon. In addition, two astronauts flew to Orlando Tuesday on government T-38 jets to “assist authorities and NASA personnel as needed” according to JSC PAO. It is certainly good that NASA takes care of its own – and speaks well of the people involved. But is it proper for taxpayer dollars to be spent on jet aircraft flying back and forth to handle a legal situation created by an employee on their own time?
Editor’s Wednesday update: Lisa Nowak is arriving via commercial jet in Houston right now. If you examine the link above which tracks NASA2 you’ll see that it took off from a point east of Orlando – at KSC- which would violate the court’s limits on Nowak’s travel. None the less, the issue of sending NASA personnel – astronauts and psych experts – via government transport – for a civil servant’s personnal legal troubles – remains at issue.
Editor’s Wednesday update: I just spoke with Eileen Hawley at NASA JSC PAO. She told me that the flight orders for the 6 Feb flight of NASA@ to KSC were signed back on 27 January and that this was a routine ISS training flight. As for sending NASA personnel to Florida, she said that Steve Lindsey was sent out when it was only known that Lisa Nowak had been arrested (no reason given) and that his job as her supervisor was to find out what was going on with one of his employees. Events then unfolded quickly after that.