Astronaut accused of committing fraud while in space
The divorce case has details that are all too familiar – two partners at loggerheads, a young child caught in the middle, and claims of financial malpractice.
Except there is a twist. The person accused of wrongdoing was in space.
In what is believed to be a first, Nasa is investigating if one of its astronauts committed a crime in orbit.
The person in question, Anne McClain, was taking part in a sixmonth mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS) when the incident took place.
Taking advantage of the ISS’s internet connection, McClain accessed the bank account of her partner while they were separating, according to a report from The New York Times.
The partner, a former Air Force intelligence officer called Summer Worden, has accused McClain of identity theft and improperly accessing her finances, according to the account. McClain, in turn, has denied any wrongdoing, arguing that she was simply overseeing the couple’s intertwined arrangements.
Nasa’s Office of Inspector General is investigating.
The case appears to be unprecedented, with Nasa officials telling the paper that they were unaware of any previous crimes being committed on the space station.
Mark Sundahl, director of the Global Space Law Center at Cleveland State University, went a step further, saying that he was not aware of any crime being committed anywhere in space before.
‘‘Just because it’s in space doesn’t mean it’s not subject to law,’’ Sundahl said. He added: ‘‘The more we go out there and spend time out there, all the things we do here are going to happen in space.’’
The couple were married in 2014. Worden has a son who had been born a year before she met McClain.
McClain wanted to adopt the child, according to The New York Times’s description of the divorce battle, but Worden resisted.
Rusty Hardin, McClain’s lawyer, said ‘‘she strenuously denies that she did anything improper’’ regarding accessing the bank account while in space and ‘‘is totally cooperating’’ with the investigation.
Now back on Earth, Ms McClain has reportedly sat for an interview with the inspector general last week under oath.