A Wild Ride
by Molly McCallFeb 7, 2007
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We've seen a lot of strange searches since Buzz first landed. But "astronaut diapers" is definitely a new one. Yet, that's just one search among many in the peculiar tale of space-age love, lunacy, and felony charges that has planted its flag at the very top of the Search box.
On Monday, NASA astronaut and U.S. Navy captain Lisa Marie Nowak (+1,649%) appeared in Florida after driving all night from Texas—a ride that employed the aforementioned bathroom aid. There, she donned a disguise and violently confronted U.S. Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman (+1,631%), a woman she saw as a rival for the affections of space shuttle pilot William Oefelein (+937%). Now, Nowak faces charges of attempted kidnapping and murder, NASA (+333%) grapples with questions about astronauts' psychological screening, and Search has absorbed a planet's worth of buzz.
Besides the astonishing spikes in the names of this Tang-flavored love triangle, we logged out-of-this-atmosphere surges for "astronaut" (+1,536%), "kennedy space center" (+796%), and "international space station" (+200%). Meanwhile, interest in "astronaut arrest," "kidnapping," and "love triangle" has joined "diapers" as never-before-glimpsed queries blasting upwards in Buzz.