Probation for love triangle attack

As an astronaut, Lisa Nowak was a relatively well-known face. She was part of the shuttle crew that flew to the International Space Station in July 2006.

But she garnered world fame, or world infamy, when in February 2007 she drove 1,450km (900 miles) to carry out a bizarre attack on her ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend in an airport car park.

On Tuesday, a Florida circuit judge sentenced the now ex-astronaut to a year's probation for the attack.

Ms Nowak was also sentenced to two days in prison, but this was credited to time served in connection with her arrest.

On 5 February, Ms Nowak drove from Houston to Orlando to find Colleen Shipman.

She planned to confront Ms Shipman about her relationship with Nasa astronaut Bill Oefelein - with whom Ms Nowak had had a three-year relationship.

She donned a disguise and tailed Ms Shipman as she made her way from the airport terminal to a remote parking lot in the early hours of the morning.

It was there that she carried out what Ms Shipman described as a "vicious attack".

Ms Nowak was dismissed from the US astronaut corps a month later.

Plea deal

Her trial had been scheduled for December, but during a hearing on Tuesday she pleaded guilty to the lesser charges of third-degree felony burglary and a misdemeanour battery charge in connection with the attack.

"I believe I escaped a horrible death that night"

Ms Nowak was originally charged with attempted kidnapping and burglary, as well as the misdemeanor battery charge.

Ms Shipman, who appeared in court on Tuesday, said she sensed danger and bolted for her car, snapping the locks shut just as Nowak appeared at her window, claiming she needed help.

When Ms Shipman cracked the window open, Ms Nowak squirted her in the face with pepper spray.

In a tearful, shaking voice, Ms Shipman told Orange County Circuit Court Judge Marc Lubet that she remained traumatised by the event.

She said she was unable to sleep without a light on and was still undergoing counselling nearly three years after the attack.

"I'm still reeling," said Shipman, fighting tears. "I know in my heart when Lisa Nowak attacked me, she was going to kill me.

"I believe I escaped a horrible death that night."

In accepting Nowak's guilty plea, prosecutors asked that Nowak be sentenced to jail, or at least five year's probation.

In what is believed to be their first face-to-face meeting since the attack, Ms Nowak apologised to Ms Shipman for causing "fear, misunderstanding and intense public exposure".

Ms Shipman is now engaged to Mr Oefelein. He is a former shuttle pilot who was dismissed from the astronaut corps in May 2007. The couple lives in Alaska.

Ms Nowak's lawyer called the attack "an isolated incident in an otherwise outstanding life".

Judge Lubet said he considered Ms Nowak's service as an astronaut and her lack of criminal record in sentencing her. He said the sentence was in line with similar first-time offenders pleading guilty to the same charge.

He also ordered Ms Nowak to write a sincere letter of apology to Ms Shipman, pay court and investigation costs, and take an anger management class.

Ms Nowak was also ordered to have no contact with Ms Shipman.

"You are 100% responsible for her nightmare," Lubet told Nowak.

Ms Nowak, a Naval officer, may face additional consequences from the military.

Her lawyer said: "The military is probably waiting to see what we do here."