Astronaut love triangle gone bad

The astronaut love triangle story is the talk of the newsroom today. The question of who was schtupping who is left somewhat ambiguous, and I'm erring on the side of nobody was schtupping nobody ... but this astronaut sure went crazy and tried to kidnap the woman she saw as her rival for a fellow astronaut's affections:

Police said Lisa Marie Nowak, 43 -- a Navy captain and married mother of three -- drove 900 miles, donned a disguise and was armed with a BB gun and pepper spray when she confronted a woman she believed was a competitor for the affections of Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, an unmarried fellow astronaut.

Oefelein, 41, piloted the space shuttle Discovery in December. He and Nowak trained together but never flew a mission together.

Nowak told police that her relationship with Oefelein was "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to an arrest affidavit. Inside Nowak's vehicle, which was parked at a nearby motel, authorities found a pepper spray package, an unused BB-gun cartridge, latex gloves and e-mails between Colleen Shipman and Oefelein.

And here's the Depends angle (you know there had to be a Depends angle):

Nowak raced from Houston to Orlando wearing diapers in the car so she wouldn't have to stop to go to the bathroom, authorities said. Astronauts wear diapers during launch and re-entry.

Makes going into orbit a bit less romantic and a bit more rash (as in red and prickly), doesn't it? And the fact that it happened in Orlando, Fla., just makes me think that Calfornia has quite a rival for weirdest state in the Union.

Anyhow, read the story already, because this is prime water-cooler talk for the next few days.

Photos: Astronaut Lisa Nowak before ... and after (in her booking mug shot).