NASA astronaut’s estranged wife pleads guilty to falsely alleging first crime committed in space

The estranged wife of a NASA astronaut pleaded guilty to lying to law enforcement over what was alleged to be the first crime to be committed in space. 

Summer Worden now faces up to five years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine in relation to the false reports she made about Anne McClain, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. 

“In July 2019, Summer Heather Worden alleged her estranged spouse had guessed the password and illegally accessed her bank account while the spouse was deployed to the International Space Station,” the office said. 

“However, Worden had actually opened the account in April 2018. Both parties had accessed it until January 2019 when Worden changed the credentials,” it added. “The investigation revealed Worden had granted her spouse access to her bank records from at least 2015, including her login credentials.”

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NASA astronaut Anne McClain is helped out of the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft after she and her fellow crew members landed in the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 9, 2025, off the coast of San Diego, California. (Keegan Barber/NASA via Getty Images)

The initial claim made by Worden – which was the first allegation of a crime in space – generated inquiries from the Federal Trade Commission and NASA’s Inspector General, the New York Times reported. 

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Crew-10 mission commander Anne McClain smiles for a photo before heading to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 14, 2025. (Gregg Newton/AFP via Getty Images)

The newspaper described Worden as a decorated intelligence officer in the Air Force. It added that McClain, a West Point graduate and Iraq War veteran who joined NASA in 2013, returned to the International Space Station in March as commander of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission.

Worden and McClain divorced in January 2020, according to KSDK. 

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on March 14, 2025, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

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Prosecutors said a judge will sentence Worden on Feb. 12, 2026, and that she is allowed to remain on bond pending that hearing.