Houston, We Have A Problem Astronaut

The very weird case of astronaut gone wacky, Lisa Nowak, is indeed a boom to the late night comics and tabloid punsters. It has spurred wacky puns like: LUST IN SPACE, ASTRONAUGHTY, ASTRONUT, etc. already. And the strange details such as the diaper wearing and bringing a steel mallet are nearly laughable in themselves as well. Any plot to drive 900 mile in diapers to hit someone in the head with a mallet seems like a cartoon level logic and miles beyond infantile.

It is strange how an educated person like Lisa Nowak, who no doubt survived years of psychological testing for having "the right stuff" was able to get through the system. But it also raise disturbing questions about the nature of mental illness to cause absolutely strange and disgraceful behavior that could follow a person with legal problems for years.

The bottom line is that Lisa Nowak needs both help and prayer. She apparently suffers from from serious issues involving both the mind and spirit, and does deserve some sympathy from the public.

Normally astronauts were thought to be like superheroes. Indeed most represent the best in the human race in order to enter this small elite club of space explorers. Lisa Nowak is only the very rare exception, and does prove even the humaness and vulnerability of the the human race to problems outside their full control.