An astronaut charged with attempted first-degree murder flew out of Orlando International Airport to her hometown of Houston after she was released from jail on a $25,500 bail, according to Local 6 News.

Police officers charged Lisa Nowak, 43, with trying to murder Colleen Shipman Tuesday 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.

According to police, Nowak's obsession with William Oefelein led her to drive 900 miles from Houston to Orlando, bringing with her a trench coat and wig, armed with the weapons and wearing a diaper to avoid bathroom breaks on the arduous drive.

Early Wednesday, Nowak was rushed through Orlando International Airport with a jacket over her head by friend NASA Col. Steve Lindsey.

"We are down here supporting her like we would any employee at NASA if they would get into this situation," Lindsey said. "We are a close family and we try to take care of our own."

Lindsey said Nowak plans to go back to work when she is back in Texas.

"We are told she is going back to work, Houston is home for her," Local 6's Charnel Wright said.

Victim: Nowak Used Govt. Contacts

Meanwhile, court documents showed Shipman said Nowak used her government contacts to research her and possibly find her in Orlando, according to a Local 6 News report.

"Local 6 has court documents that paint a very different picture of Nowak where the victim writes of (Monday's) alleged planned attack, saying Nowak 'researched my personal information using her government contacts and finding my flight information,'" Local 6's Jamie Guirola said.

Shipman filed a request for a protective order against Nowak in a Florida court on Tuesday, asking that Nowak be prohibited from going within 500 feet of her, the Houston Chronicle reported.

A hearing on the request was set for Feb. 20, the paper said.

In the handwritten request cited by the paper, Shipman said Nowak had stalked her for two months and did not say whether she is, in fact, involved with Oefelein.

NASA Responds

Nowak was placed on a 30-day leave by NASA in connection with the incident.

Tuesday night, the space agency released a new statement saying: "We are deeply saddened by this tragic event. The charges against Lisa Nowak are serious ones that must be decided by the judicial system."

Nowak Seemed To Excel

Until a few months ago, Lisa Nowak's life seemed to be on a perfect trajectory.

She became an astronaut after winning a series of Navy service awards. She had flown on the shuttle Discovery, and was 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.

Nowak-Oefelein Relationship

Nowak and Oefelein, who both live in the Houston area, had trained together as astronauts, but never flew into space together. Shipman works at Patrick Air Force Base near Kennedy Space Center. Details of Oefelein's relationships with the women were unclear.

Earlier, Nowak was quoted by police as saying she and Oefelein had something "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship."

Neither Oefelein nor Shipman could be reached for comment Tuesday.

Nowak's two-story brick house remained unlit and empty Tuesday night. Mail and papers covered the dining room table. A pair of children's white roller skates with pink wheels sat at the bottom of the stairs, toys were strewn nearby. Her husband could not be located.

"Personally, Lisa is an extremely caring and dedicated mother to her three children," said a statement from Nowak's family. "Considering both her personal and professional life, these alleged events are completely out of character and have come as a tremendous shock to our family."

Police found a letter in Nowak's car that "indicated how much Mrs. Nowak loved Mr. Oefelein," an arrest affidavit said. And Nowak had copies of e-mails between Shipman and Oefelein.

Oefelein, a 41-year-old Navy commander, piloted a Discovery mission in December to the space station where astronauts rewired the outpost, installed a new $11 million section and dropped off a new American crew member.

Oefelein is unmarried but has two children. He began his aviation career as a teenager, flying floatplanes in Alaska.

Shipman, 30, is an engineer assigned to the 45th Launch Support Squadron, and a Federal Aviation Administration pilot directory indicates she is certified as a student pilot.

Affidavit: Nowak 'Stealthily' Followed

Nowak, accustomed to wearing astronaut diapers during the space shuttle's launch and return to Earth, wore them on the drive from Houston so she would not have to make bathroom stops as she raced to confront Shipman at the Orlando International Airport, police said.

Then, according to police, Nowak donned a wig and trench coat, boarded an airport shuttle bus with Shipman and followed her to her car. Crying, Nowak sprayed a chemical into the car, police said.

Shipman drove to a parking lot booth and sought help.

A police affidavit made public Tuesday said Nowak had "stealthily followed the victim while in disguise and possessed multiple deadly weapons."

The affidavit said the circumstances of the case "create a well-founded fear" and gave investigators "probable cause to believe that Mrs. Nowak intended to murder Ms. Shipman."

Lykkebak said that Nowak only wanted to talk to Shipman. Asked about the weapons, he said, "You can sit and speculate all day."

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.