In a groundbreaking case involving space and law, Summer Worden, a former Air Force intelligence officer, has admitted to making false claims against her then-estranged wife, NASA astronaut Anne McClain. This admission marks the resolution of the first criminal allegation ever made against an individual in space.
On Thursday, Worden, aged 50, entered a guilty plea to charges of lying to federal authorities. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. As a result of her plea, Worden faces the possibility of a five-year prison term and a fine reaching up to $250,000.
The case dates back to March 2019 when Worden accused McClain of illegally accessing her bank account from the International Space Station. Worden alleged that McClain had guessed her password and committed identity theft, though she acknowledged there was no evidence of any financial transactions or withdrawals, according to a report by The New York Times.
This incident quickly gained notoriety as it was the first time a criminal allegation had been made against someone while they were in space.
Anne McClain consistently denied the accusations, maintaining her innocence from the outset. The resolution of this case brings closure to a unique intersection of space exploration and criminal justice.
McClain said from the beginning there was absolutely no truth to the allegations.
“Summer and I have been going through a painful and personal separation that is now unfortunately playing out in the media. I appreciate all the outpouring of support, and I will reserve any further comment until after the investigation concludes,” she said in August 2019.
During the investigation, the feds discovered that Worden actually opened the account in April 2018. Both parties had accessed it until January 2019 when Worden changed the credentials. The investigation revealed Worden had granted her spouse access to her bank records from at least 2015, including her login credentials.
Worden will be sentenced by a federal judge in Houston in February 2026.
Bitter custody battle
When she made the allegations, the couple was in the middle of a nasty divorce and custody battle over their son, who was six at the time.
They married in 2014, but Worden filed for divorce in 2018 after McClain accused her of assault. Worden denied the claim and the assault case was later dismissed.
The divorce was finalized in January 2020.
A few months later, Worden was charged with two counts of making false statements to federal authorities.
When the messy allegations by Worden first surfaced, McClain was a rising star at NASA, which stood by her then in a statement:
Lt Col. Anne McClain has an accomplished military career, flew combat missions in Iraq and is one of NASA’s top astronauts. She did a great job on her most recent NASA mission aboard the International Space Station. Like with all NASA employees, NASA does not comment on personal or personnel matters.
McClain made headlines for a different reason earlier this year when she returned to the ISS to relieve the stuck test pilots of Boeing’s Starliner.
Before leaving ISS after five months there, McClain made note of “some tumultuous times on Earth” with people struggling.
“We want this mission, our mission, to be a reminder of what people can do when we work together, when we explore together,” she said.
