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Former astronaut Lisa Marie Nowak, a Rockville native, pleaded guilty last week to third-degree felony burglary and first-degree misdemeanor battery for attacking a woman alleged to be her romantic rival in an airport parking lot in 2007.

Orange County (Fla.) Circuit Court Judge Marc L. Lubet on Nov. 10 sentenced Nowak to one year of probation, 50 hours of community service and two days in jail, said Marti Mackenzie, a spokeswoman for Nowak's Orlando attorney, Donald Lykkebak.

Nowak opted to pay $500 in lieu of completing community service and she will not have to serve the two days in jail because she was credited for time served following her arrest, Mackenzie said.

Nowak had originally been charged with attempted kidnapping and burglary, which are felony charges, and misdemeanor battery.

Danielle Tavernier, a spokeswoman for the Orange-Osceola State's Attorney's Office, issued a press release dated Nov. 10 saying his office would allow Nowak to enter a guilty plea on the two charges after reviewing the Orlando Police Department's "thorough and comprehensive criminal investigation" and after discussions with Shipman.

The press release added that the state "has no further comment on this case." Tavernier could not be reached by telephone.

Nowak was accused of driving nearly 1,000 miles from Houston to Orlando International Airport and assaulting Colleen Shipman with pepper spray on Feb. 5, 2007. Court documents and police say Nowak and Shipman were involved in a love triangle with another former NASA astronaut, Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein.

Mackenzie said Lykkebak was pleased with the outcome of the case and felt the sentence was appropriate.

Nowak has also been ordered to have no contact with Shipman or Oefelein and to write Shipman a letter of apology, Mackenzie said. Shipman was present in court on the day of sentencing and Nowak apologized to her during the proceedings, she said.

Nowak's plea came about a month before she was scheduled to go to trial for the charges.

An appeals court had ruled last year that diapers, Latex gloves and other items in Nowak's car could be used as evidence in the trial, which was scheduled for Dec. 7, but her interview following her arrest could not, Mackenzie said.

Nowak, who was dismissed from the astronaut corps a month after her arrest, has been reassigned to a Navy base in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Nowak, a mother of three, went on her only space flight on the Discovery Space Shuttle in 2006. She returned to Montgomery County that fall and spent several days speaking to schools in the greater Rockville area.