Ex-astronaut, Lisa Nowak, wants criminal record sealed, says report

(CBS/WKMG/AP) ORLANDO, Fla. - Former astronaut Lisa Nowak, who made headlines four years ago after she drove nearly 1,000 miles nonstop in a bizarre airport attack on a romantic rival, is now asking a judge to seal her criminal record.

Nowak, a Navy captain, was accused of attacking Colleen Shipman and using pepper spray on her in the parking lot of Orlando International Airport in February 2007 after driving from Houston, according to the Miami Herald.

Shipman had reportedly begun dating Nowak's love interest, former space shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein.

Nowak was sentenced in 2009 to a year of probation after pleading guilty to burglary charges. She had originally been charged with attempted kidnapping and burglary, which are felonies, and misdemeanor battery.

After pleading guilty, Nowak, who launched into space aboard the shuttle Discovery, was fired by NASA, but had remained a captain in the Navy at the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas, reports CBS affiliate WKMG.

In August 2010, a board of U.S. Navy admirals gave a recommendation to terminate Nowak's active duty and classify her service as "other than honorable," but the final decision is in the hands of the secretary of the Navy.

The court motion filed earlier this month requests that her record be sealed "as it is a significant hindrance to the future economic well-being of her family."

It is unclear when or if Nowak will receive approval for her request, according to the Herald.

According to the office of her attorney, Donald Lykkeback, the state must first issue its response to her petition and then a judge will decide whether to approve or deny her request.

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August 20, 2010 - Ex-Astronaut Lisa Nowak May be Dishonorably Discharged from Navy