Emails obtained by AP and NPR under freedom of information legislation appear to show that NASA was aware its astronauts could “melt down” and was looking for early warning signs months before Lisa Nowak was arrested. The trial of Nowak for allegedly assaulting and attempting to kidnap a love rival was postponed on Tuesday following a request from the prosecution. Some reports are claiming Nowak’s insanity defence took prosecutors by surprise, hence their request for a postponement (Reuters, 11 News). Another AP report says pre-trial hearings are scheduled for next week as Nowak’s legal team attempt to rule out use of her arrest interview and the search of her car.

The emails obtained by AP detail an effort to identify clues to unstable behaviour, following the unrelated suicide of astronaut Charles Brady Jr:

In one dated Nov. 8, 2006, a NASA or contractor employee whose name is blacked out wrote about being instructed to look into Brady’s death ‘in order to take from it any lessons learned in the hope that such an event might be prevented from ever occurring again’. … Another e-mail, dated Nov. 6, indicated the writer had an interest in investigating the circumstances surrounding Brady’s death ‘in terms of identifying and acting on an astronaut with psychiatric problems.’

As NASA Watch notes, “This is starting to get ghoulish.”

Image: NASA