ORLANDO, Fla. - A NASA astronaut is free on bail but she has to wear a monitoring device after being charged with attempted murder in a case allegedly involving a possible romantic rival. Police in Orlando, Fla, say the evidence linked to Lisa Nowak includes a steel mallet, knife, rubber tubing and garbage bags.

NASA astronaut Lisa Marie Nowak is shown at left in a March 2005 photo provided by NASA, and at right in a Feb. 2007 photo provided by the Orange County, Fla. [AP]

Nowak became an astronaut after winning a series of Navy service awards. She had flown on the shuttle Discovery, and is a mother of three children. She said in a September interview with Ladies Home Journal that her husband, Richard, "works in Mission Control, so he's part of the whole space business, too. And supportive also."

But even before she was charged Tuesday with attempted first-degree murder, attempted kidnapping and three other crimes - all stemming from what police called a love triangle involving a fellow astronaut - there were signs that not everything was right in her life.

In a NASA interview last year, before her mission aboard Discovery, she spoke about the strain her career placed on her family. She has twin 5-year-old girls and a son who is 14 or 15.

"It's a sacrifice for our own personal time and our families and the people around us," she said. "But I do think it's worth it because if you don't explore and take risks and go do all these things, then everything will stay the same."

In November, a neighbor reported hearing the sounds of dishes being thrown inside Nowak's Houston-area home, and the police came. And weeks ago, Nowak and her husband separated after 19 years.

The final unraveling came this week after police arrested her for allegedly trying to kidnap a woman she believed was her rival for the affections of astronaut William Oefelein.

"Perplexed is the word that I'm sticking with," said astronaut Chris Ferguson, who attended Nowak's bail hearing in Orlando with chief astronaut Steve Lindsey.

Police officers charged Nowak with trying to murder Colleen Shipman based on weapons and other items found with Nowak or in her car: pepper spray, a BB-gun, a new steel mallet, knife and rubber tubing.

After Nowak posted a $25,500 bail Tuesday evening, she walked out of jail with a jacket thrown over her head, mobbed by two dozen reporters and cameramen. A tracking device was later placed on her ankle as a condition of her release. The judge ordered Nowak to stay away from Shipman.

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