Astronaut Bill Oefelein was in orbit aboard the space shuttle in December when he was sent a steamy e-mail from a girlfriend awaiting his return: “First urge will be to rip your clothes off, throw you on the ground and love the hell out of you.”

Fellow astronaut Lisa Nowak apparently discovered that e-mail — and some other romantic messages to Oefelein — before she set off on her bizarre, 900-mile road-trip to confront her rival for Oefelein’s affections.