Astronaut in court

A former US Astronaut charged with assault and the attempted kidnap of a love rival has made an appearance at court in Orlando, Florida.

Lisa Nowak, 44, has pleaded not guilty to charges relating from an alleged confrontation with Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman in an airport parking lot in February.

Authorities allege Nowak drove straight from Houston to Orlando - using nappies to avoid having to stop for breaks - then pepper-sprayed Ms Shipman and tried to force her way into her victim's car in the parking lot.

It is also alleged Nowak had a duffel bag with a steel mallet, four-inch knife and a gun.

She had told the detectives that she and Ms Shipman were vying for the affection of the same man and that she confronted Shipman in an Orlando International Airport parking lot because she wanted to know "where she stands".

Nowak took the stand and asked the court to let her remove her electronic monitoring bracelet, complaining that it cut her ankle and gets in the way of her military boot lace.

But Ms Shipman told the judge she is still afraid of Nowak and feels better knowing she is monitored.

"When I'm home alone and there's nobody there with me, it is a comfort," Shipman testified.

However Ms Shipman acknowledged that she had visited her boyfriend in Nowak's hometown of Houston several times since Nowak's arrest, though.

She did not say if that boyfriend was the same space shuttle pilot - Bill Oefelein - involved in the Nowak love triangle.

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