Experts split on NASA's Nowak strategy

By Kimberly C. Moore
Florida Today
February 11, 2007

Astronaut Lisa Nowak, left, hides under a coat as she is helped into a police car by chief astronaut Steve Lindsey arriving at George Bush Intercontinental Airport Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2007 in Houston. Nowak returned to Texas Wednesday, a day after being charged in Florida with trying to murder the woman she believed was her romantic rival for a space shuttle pilot's affections. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Lisa Nowak exiting the Orange County Detention Center with a jacket over her head was not only a personal low moment for the suspended NASA astronaut, it was also a public relations nightmare for the nation's space agency.

"If you want to be seen as a person of respect and integrity, you walk out there with your head held high," said Mike Paul, president of MGP & Associates, a New York City PR firm that handles reputation management. "Or you walk out there with a jacket over your head and be seen as an average criminal."

Public relations experts gave NASA's handling of the Nowak situation mixed reviews after her arrest on charges of attempted murder and attempted kidnapping of a rival in a bizarre love triangle.

Experts said a crisis communications expert should have been brought in to wrangle the media hordes who descended on the detention center, NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., and Johnson Space Center in Houston. But they also said being honest about psychological testing was a "good move."

Paul said he would've preferred to see a NASA psychologist or NASA public relations specialist helping Nowak after her arrest, not chief astronaut and Nowak's boss, Steve Lindsey.

Paul said the general public did not understand that Lindsey was her supervisor. Instead, the astronaut's involvement only made it look like NASA was closing ranks.

"I think she was very embarrassed and very afraid," he added. "There's a big difference between a court of law and a court of public opinion."

Despite the fumbles, he gave NASA kudos for being up-front about revamping its psychological screening of astronauts.

"It was not only a bold move, it was a good move to protect the reputation of astronauts past, present and future," he said.

Mark Fuhrman, the lead detective in the O.J. Simpson murder case, called NASA's approach lame.

"I think NASA is running and laying the foundation for a very kind (approach) -- like, 'Let's all play nice with others; she's got a mental problem,' " Fuhrman said.

He said NASA is "embracing her and saying 'she probably has some issues with stress and . . . we're going to relook at our psychological screening and our training.' "

Many PR specialists are comparing and contrasting the Nowak situation with the way NASA handled the Challenger and Columbia disasters.

"NASA's PR team performed brilliantly in the wake of the space shuttle Columbia disaster," publicist Jack O'Dwyer wrote in his newsletter. "The space agency learned much since its Challenger PR meltdown."

Many people said NASA did not handle the Challenger disaster well, shutting out the media and not answering questions. For example, it took months for the public to learn that several Challenger astronauts lived until the crew cabin hit the ocean.

During the Columbia aftermath, NASA was much more open, repeatedly holding press conferences to keep the public informed.

Rhoda Weiss, national public chairman and CEO of the Public Relations Society of America and a PR professor at UCLA, said there are some commandments of crisis PR that must be obeyed:

· Above all, tell the truth.

· Assemble your crisis team quickly and pick one spokesperson who has experience with crisis communication.

· Provide as much information as possible, as quickly as possible.

"The longer you wait, the more the crisis can threaten the integrity of your organization," Weiss said.

Crisis Manager Mike Paul agreed.

"When you have to choose between an organization's brand and an individual's brand, 100 percent of the time, you choose the organization first," Paul said. "NASA has not made that clear yet."

Fuhrman added, "I think they want to cut bait on her as soon as they can, but that would really look bad for them. It would mean that she did all these things; that she intended to kidnap and kill this woman."


Astronaut Lisa Nowak in her official NASA photo (left) and in her mug shot yesterday. (Photos: NASA, left; Orange County Jail)