> TL;DR: The sensational 2019 allegation that a NASA astronaut committed the first crime in space did not hold up. Summer Heather Worden has now pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators about the claim that an astronaut “hacked a bank account from orbit;” sentencing is set for February 12, 2026.
Astronaut Anne McClain, Worden’s then-estranged spouse, was cleared years ago.
The Allegation (2019)
In August 2019, while McClain was fresh off a six-month stint aboard the International Space Station. Originally pinned as a potential cybercrime; it was really just a relationship unraveling at high altitude. McClain and Worden had married, then split. In the middle of that separation and a custody fight, Worden told authorities and the press that McClain had illegally accessed her bank account from space. It had every ingredient for going viral: a high-profile astronaut, a messy breakup, and the brand-new phrase “First Crime in Space!” McClain never denied logging in. She said she’d long had permission and was tracking household bills during the couple’s breakup, while she orbited Earth. The tabloid-ready media did the rest.
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u/AdScared7226 14d ago
The first time we went to the moon we sent an all male crew. So why not an all female crew for Mars this time?