Astronaut accused of crime in space

NASA astronaut Anne McClain, who spent 203 days in space aboard the International Space Station earlier this year, has been accused of identity theft and improperly accessing the private financial records of her estranged spouse

Summer Worden, a former Air Force intelligence officer living in Kansas, has been in the midst of a bitter separation and parenting dispute for much of the past year. So she was surprised when she noticed that her estranged spouse still seemed to know things about her spending. Had she bought a car? How could she afford that?

Ms. Worden put her intelligence background to work, asking her bank about the locations of computers that had recently accessed her bank account using her login credentials. The bank got back to her with an answer: One was a computer network registered to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Ms. Worden’s spouse, Anne McClain, was a decorated NASA astronaut on a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station. She was about to be part of NASA’s first all-female spacewalk. But the couple’s domestic troubles on Earth, it seemed, had extended into outer space.

Ms. McClain acknowledged that she had accessed the bank account from space, insisting through a lawyer that she was merely shepherding the couple’s still-intertwined finances. Ms. Worden felt differently. She filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and her family lodged one with NASA’s Office of Inspector General, accusing Ms. McClain of identity theft and improper access to Ms. Worden’s private financial records.

Investigators from the inspector general’s office have since contacted Ms. Worden and Ms. McClain, trying to get to the bottom of what may be the first allegation of criminal wrongdoing in space.

“I was pretty appalled that she would go that far. I knew it was not O.K.,” Ms. Worden said.

The five space agencies involved in the space station — from the United States, Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada — have long-established procedures to handle any jurisdictional questions that arise when astronauts of various nations are orbiting Earth together. But Mark Sundahl, director of the Global Space Law Center at Cleveland State University, said he was not aware of any previous allegation of a crime committed in space. NASA officials said they were also unaware of any crimes committed on the space station.

Ms. McClain, now back on Earth, submitted to an under-oath interview with the inspector general last week. She contends that she was merely doing what she had always done, with Ms. Worden’s permission, to make sure the family’s finances were in order.

“She strenuously denies that she did anything improper,” said her lawyer, Rusty Hardin, who added that the astronaut “is totally cooperating.”

Mr. Hardin said the bank access from space was an attempt to make sure that there were sufficient funds in Ms. Worden’s account to pay bills and care for the child they had been raising. Ms. McClain had done the same throughout the relationship, he said, with Ms. Worden’s full knowledge. Ms. McClain continued using the password that she had used previously and never heard from Ms. Worden that the account was now off limits, he added.

Her lawyer told the Times that "she strenuously denies that she did anything improper." The access was used to ensure care for Worden's son, who the couple had been raising together. Worden filed a complaint alleging identity theft with both the Federal Trade Commission and NASA's Office of Inspector General.

The Space Station Agreement, signed by the US and 14 other governments involved in the ISS, outlines the legal framework governing activities on the station. Each nation is legally responsible for their elements, equipment and personnel and for applying their own national laws in criminal matters.

The accusations are being investigated by the inspector general's office. McClain took to Twitter on Aug. 24 to rebut the claims, stating there's "unequivocally no truth" to them and that she has "total confidence" in the inspector general's investigation.

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