Breaking law of land from space: NASA astronaut Anne McClain accused of accessing estranged wife’s bank account from ISS

In what seems to be the first allegation of a crime committed in space, American astronaut Anne McClain has been accused by her estranged wife of accessing her bank account from the International Space Station.

According to a New York Times report, NASA is currently investigating a claim made by Summer Worden - Ms McClain's estranged wife -that her account was accessed from a computer network registered to the space agency. She also filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

While McClain has acknowledged accessing the account from the ISS, she has denied of doing "anything improper." She returned to Earth in June after a six-month stay at the ISS.

McClain married Worden, a former Air Force intelligence officer, in 2014. Worden already had a son who was nearly one year old then. According to the report, Worden says she resisted McClain's attempt to have parenting rights over him. Worden filed for divorce in 2018, reportedly after McClain accused her of assault. 

A graduate of prestigious West Point military academy, McClain flew more than 800 combat hours over Iraq as an Army pilot before she went on to qualify as a test pilot and subsequently chosen to fly for NASA in 2013.

She spent six months aboard the ISS and returned to Earth in June this year. She was to be part of the first all-female spacewalk on March 29 but it was cancelled by NASA citing lack of availability of spacesuits in the right size.

A NASA spokesperson said the allegations had nothing to with decision to scrap the spacewalk which would have also involved astronaut Christina Koch.

In a complaint filed with the FTC, Worden said she found out that her bank accounts were accessed from a computer network registered to NASA. In another complained filed with NASA’s Office of Inspector General, Worden's family accused McClain of identity theft and improper access to private financial records.

The complaint accused McClain of a “highly calculated and manipulative campaign” to win custody of Worden’s son.

The NYT reported that investigators from NASA's Office of Inspector General have contacted both McClain and Worden over the allegation. 

McClain told the daily through a lawyer that she was merely going through the couple’s finances to make sure everything was in order.

"She strenuously denies that she did anything improper," her lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said. 

Hardin said McClain had accessed the account with Worden’s full knowledge before the split and she was never told to stop. 

“I was pretty appalled that she would go that far,” Worden was quoted as saying by NYT. “I knew it was not okay,” she said. 

Legal framework of the ISS says that although the crime may have been committed in space, the accuses is subject to the law of the country she belongs to. This means McClain is subject to US law.