MIAMI - A trial for an American astronaut who drove halfway across the United States to confront a romantic rival in a NASA love triangle has been set for December 7, a Florida court said Wednesday.

Lisa Nowak, a 46-year-old mother of three, was arrested and charged with kidnapping and battery for allegedly attacking Colleen Shipman with pepper spray at the Orlando International Airport in Florida in February 2007.

Nowak, who has flown aboard NASA's space shuttle Discovery, drove 1,500km from Houston, Texas, to Orlando wearing a diaper to avoid having to make restroom stops, according to documents in the case.

Prosecutors have claimed that Nowak thought Shipman, a US Air Force captain, shared her romantic interest in NASA shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein.

The trial had originally been scheduled for April but Judge Marc Lubet postponed it to allow for an appeal by the state of Florida against a court decision to suppress evidence that Nowak claims was obtained illegally.

Nowak, who was dismissed from the astronaut corps after her arrest but remains on active duty in the US Navy, had urged the court to throw out statements she made to police upon her arrest and evidence taken during what she says was an illegal search of her car.

The judge has also set a preliminary hearing in Nowak's case for November 10.