NASA officials scrambled this year to decide how to handle the legal and public relations fallout surrounding Capt. Lisa M. Nowak, an astronaut who drove from Texas to Florida to confront a romantic rival, according to e-mail messages releasedWednesday by the space agency. The 222 pages of messages also suggested a still-friendly relationship between Captain Nowak and Cmdr. William A. Oefelein of the Navy in the days before Captain Nowak drove to Orlando, where, the authorities say, she spritzed her rival, Capt. Colleen Shipman of the Air Force, in the face with pepper spray.Captain Shipman, who had been dating Commander Oefelein, had just arrived at the Orlando airport after visiting ...