Orlando, Fla. ? A love note e-mailed to an orbiting space shuttle was one of the ways NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak learned she had a rival for astronaut Bill Oefelein’s affections.

Considered unemotional and shy, Nowak collected that e-mail and a dozen others showing her boyfriend had a new lover before she went on a bizarre, 969-mile odyssey last month to confront the woman in a parking lot at Orlando International Airport, according to documents released Monday.

“First urge will be to rip your clothes off,” reads one of the notes from Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman to Oefelein while he was aboard shuttle Discovery in December. “But honestly, love, I want you to totally and thoroughly enjoy your hero’s homecoming.”

The messages and other documents were released late Monday by the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office, which on Friday charged Nowak with attempted kidnapping and burglary with assault, which could put her in prison for life.

The nature of Nowak’s relationship with Oefelein had been uncertain since her arrest. She told detectives at the time it was “more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship.” However, Oefelein told investigators they had been romantically involved since 2004, a year before he divorced and while Nowak was having marital problems.

Shipman, 30, told police Nowak, 43, followed her to an airport parking lot where she attacked her with pepper spray. A wig, a trench coat, a knife, a BB pistol and a steel mallet were seized from Nowak, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a former test pilot.

The inch-thick pack of records released late Monday contain transcribed interviews with Orlando police that describe how Nowak’s life began to fall apart when she was jilted shortly after New Year’s Day.

“I would (have) never predicted this,” Oefelein told a detective about his breakup with Nowak, a mother of three. “She had actually wished me a nice weekend, knowing Colleen was gonna spend it with me.”

An undated note Nowak was carrying at her arrest, however, shows how deeply she felt about Oefelein, 41.

“Bill is absolutely the best person I’ve ever known and I love him more than I ever knew possible,” Nowak wrote to Oefelein’s mother to thank her for supporting them. “Fortunately, that past situation is finally coming to an end … and I am in the process of completing all of the official divorce paperwork.”

The e-mails, which Nowak apparently downloaded from Oefelein’s home computer, were seized after her arrest Feb. 5. During the 14-hour-plus drive from her home in Houston, Nowak wore diapers so she wouldn’t have to stop, she told police.

Nowak remains free on bail pending trial. NASA placed her on 30-day leave, but that expires Thursday. NASA has remained tight-lipped about the case, calling it a matter for the courts.