NASA to Review Psychological Testing of Astronauts

Feb. 8, 2007 — -- Taut-faced NASA managers, saying they were very concerned about astronaut Lisa Nowak, conceded they may need to watch the mental health of spaceflight veterans more aggressively -- and admitted they do not closely watch them once they've been admitted to the astronaut corps.

"This is a very difficult time for many people, and it is a very tragic event," said Shana Dale, NASA's Deputy Administrator.

"We think we're doing things very, very well in the agency, and astronauts are incredible performers," she said. "We just want to see if there are any areas that need improvement along the way."

Annual Astro Physicals, Not Psychological Tests

Astronauts do undergo rigorous psychological tests before they can join the agency, said agency managers, but afterwards, they admitted, an astronaut does not routinely get anything other than a regular annual checkup.

Dale said there had been "no indications of concern with Lisa" before Monday, when she was arrested in Florida, allegedly for trying to kill or kidnap a woman she perceived as her competitor for the affections of a fellow astronaut, William Oefelein.

"We're trained to look for behavioral issues, to be concerned about the family's well-being, spouses and other dependents," said Dr. Jeff Davis, who heads medical services at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

"There is not a structured test given on an annual evaluation, but there is this very thorough annual medical evaluation by a trained aerospace medicine physician, who can make referrals to any discipline."

Dale also said "there is no specific psychological examination for a shuttle flight," though astronauts who spend months in orbit on the International Space Station do get psychological evaluations before and after flight.

Beyond that, Dale and her colleagues refused to comment on Nowak's case.

Possible Self-Destructive Behavior

In an interview with ABC News, psychoanalyst Bethany Marshall said mental illness might have driven Nowak to self-destruction.

"There's a certain category of people who fall into a category of a kind of latent mental illness, which is called having a 'psychotic core.' It can be covered by having an articulate, accomplished personality," Marshall said. "But one stressful event can shatter the veneer and reveal the core. It's like when a pebble hits a windshield and shatters it."

Marshall suggested that Nowak sought revenge for the lack of a romantic relationship with Oefelein.

"Once a psychological crisis happens, it exposes the primitive part of the mind that seeks revenge when love is taken away," she said.

If Nowak was mentally ill, NASA might not have known about it.

"If this is a case of psychotic core, the illness wouldn't be visible until that pebble shattered the windshield," Marshall said. "But it's also possible that she came down with a mental illness, such as bipolar disorder, recently. In that case, NASA wouldn't have detected the condition because she didn't have it yet."

Astronaut-Turned-Stalker?

Nowak's behavior resembles that of a stalker. If not from mental illness, her pursuit of Oefelein's girlfriend could have stemmed from a latent stalking personality.

"People don't usually suddenly become stalkers in their 40s. It's a pattern of behavior that usually begins earlier in adulthood," Marshall said. "But it's something that's more likely than a mental illness, like bipolar disorder, to go undetected for years. So she could have had a stalking-type personality for a long time, but people didn't know it."