Astronaut’s Wife Admits Lying About Crime Committed in Space

The so-called “first crime in space” — a story that once shocked NASA and the world — has officially fallen apart.

Summer Worden, a former Air Force intelligence officer from Kansas, has confessed that her sensational 2019 claim was entirely fabricated. Worden, 50, pleaded guilty last week to lying to federal agents after accusing her estranged wife, NASA astronaut Anne McClain, of hacking into her bank account while aboard the International Space Station.

According to court records, Worden alleged that McClain had somehow guessed her password and accessed her private finances from orbit — a claim that triggered investigations by NASA’s Office of Inspector General and the Federal Trade Commission.

But prosecutors now say the entire story was a lie. “The evidence showed Ms. McClain had legitimate access to the account,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Harding said in a statement. “This case serves as a reminder that false allegations — especially those directed at federal agencies — carry serious consequences.”

Worden and McClain had shared joint financial accounts during their marriage, prosecutors said. Investigators discovered that McClain had continued checking the same account she had always been authorized to use — not hacking it.

At the height of the scandal, headlines around the world painted McClain as the first astronaut accused of committing a crime in space. NASA’s internal review later cleared her of any wrongdoing. “I did everything by the book,” McClain told reporters at the time, calling the accusations “painful and deeply unfair.”

Worden now faces up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Her sentencing is scheduled for February 12, 2026, in Houston federal court.

Meanwhile, McClain has rebuilt her career. Earlier this year, she made history again — not for scandal, but for leadership — when she returned to orbit in March 2025 as commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission. She successfully led her team’s five-month stay on the International Space Station before returning to Earth in August.

NASA officials have not commented on the guilty plea, but a senior agency source described the outcome as “a relief after years of misinformation.”

McClain, one of NASA’s most decorated astronauts, served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot in Iraq before joining the space agency. She is expected to remain eligible for future spaceflight assignments.

The once-sensational “space crime” story, it turns out, never left Earth.