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Astronaut Held in Kidnapping Attempt

STEVE INSKEEP, host:

Law enforcement officials in Florida are investigating the alleged plot of an astronaut. Her name is Lisa Nowak. And just last year she was more than 200 miles high aboard the International Space Station.

RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

In recent days, police say she became involved in a kidnapping plot. And as of last night, Lisa Nowak was in jail.

INSKEEP: Police believe that Nowak was in a love triangle with a fellow astronaut and she allegedly wanted to abduct the woman who was her rival.

MONTAGNE: Police say she drove 900 miles from Houston to Orlando. She was armed with pepper pray and a BB gun. She found the woman she believed to be her competitor and confronted her while wearing a wig and a trench coat.

INSKEEP: Police later arrested the astronaut, Lisa Nowak, who is married with three children. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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