From the dawn of the US space program, astronauts have been treated like heroes and indoctrinated in NASA's can-do, failure-is-not-an-option ethos.
Could that explain the downfall of Lisa Nowak, the astronaut accused of attempted murder?
Experts say the same traits that make astronauts such high achievers can combine to aggravate emotional problems and strain relationships.
"I really believe that NASA goes overboard in promoting how heroic and super all these people are," said Patricia Santy, a former NASA psychiatrist and author of the book Choosing the Right Stuff.
Santy said the astronaut corps is "like a family, but it's almost like a dysfunctional family when it comes to understanding that these interpersonal issues have profound impacts."
Former astronaut Jerry Linenger said astronauts take pride in self-discipline, "and you set a goal and it's just going, going, going and you let nothing get in your way."
That reminds Linenger of Nowak's drive from Houston to Orlando, Florida, to confront an Air Force captain who she allegedly believed was involved with the space shuttle pilot she loved.
However, Linenger said, that's when Nowak's training should have kicked in and led her to reflect on her actions: "To not make a midcourse correction is scary. It's just off her training and everything else."
"The biggest problem that every astronaut has had once they've obtained their goal is: `What do I do next, what do I focus on?'" said Jay Barbree, a longtime NBC correspondent.
Among earlier astronauts, "most every one of them came back had adjustment issues," Barbree said.
NASA flight crew operations chief Ellen Ochoa said the agency is considering whether to do more to look after astronauts once they return from space.
Buzz Aldrin, the second man to step on the moon, later became depressed and had problems with alcohol.
Aldrin said there is no good system to support astronauts after their spaceflight days are over: "Nobody is helping them readjust."
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not