Recently, NASA celebrated the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 mission and now NASA may again create history with the first-ever crime in space. Well, before you celebrate, let us took a look at this story which could potentially be a historic defining moment.
NASA is reportedly investigating the case of an astronaut who was accused of accessing her estranged wife's bank account while on a six-month mission aboard the space station.
Allegations of accessing bank account unlawfully
Astronaut Anne McClain, who was recently aboard the International Space Station and stayed 203 days there earlier this year, has been accused of identity theft and inappropriately accessing the bank account of her spouse Summer Worden after details of their divorce were made public.
Ms. McClain recently distinguished herself after being selected by NASA as a candidate to become one of the first women on the Moon when missions resume in 2024.
The conflict began when Worden noticed McClain knew details about her spending. Worden, a former Air Force intelligence officer and the founder and chief executive of Filly Intelligence LLC asked her bank to look up the locations of computers that had logged into her bank account. And the bank said that her account was last accessed from a computer registered to NASA.
Bitter divorce and custody issues
The couple married in 2014 and four years later, Worden filed for divorce after Mcclain accused her of assault, a move Worden said was part of Mcclain attempts to get full custody of their child.
Summer Worden said she foremost wanted to keep the dispute out of the public eye but was prompted to speak out when McClain was granted rights to visit her 6-year-old son Briggs two weeks ago. She added that she was not trying to "ruin McClain career" by going public.
Worden also told ABC News that “I knew I had to come forward and tell my story because the momentum of the case was not going in the direction we were hoping it to go in accordance with the law and preserving my rights as a parent.
Recently, McClain said in a twitter statement that there's "unequivocally no truth to these claims."
There’s unequivocally no truth to these claims. We’ve been going through a painful, personal separation that’s now unfortunately in the media. I appreciate the outpouring of support and will reserve comment until after the investigation. I have total confidence in the IG process.
— Anne McClain (@AstroAnnimal) August 24, 2019
McClain and Worden married in 2014 and Worden filed for divorce in 2018, a few months before McClain was set to launch on a six-month mission to the space station.
McClain, through her lawyer, acknowledged she did access the bank account from the space station to provide financial support for Worden's 6-year-old son using a password that she had used previously.
At the midst of this bitter divorce battle, Worden's parents said that McClain accessed the bank account as part of a "highly calculated and manipulated campaign" to get custody of Worden's son. Now, the whole world waits to find out more about what could be the first crime to be ever committed in space.
Since space is governed by five key international treaties, the matter might get more complicated if Mcclain is found guilty.
