NASA registers first crime in space; astronaut claims to divorce spouse
US space agency Nasa is currently investigating what may be the first crime committed in the outer space. Astronaut Anne McClain is accused of identity theft and improperly accessing her estranged wife's private financial records while he is on a sixth-month mission abroad the International Space Station (ISS).
The astronaut's spouse Summer Worden filed an FIR earlier this year with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) after getting known that Anne McClain had accused her bank account without her permission, while Worden's family filed another FIR with Nasa's Office of Inspector General, according to a newspaper.
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
According to The New York Times, Anne McClain said that she had accessed the nad account from space, insisting through a lawyer that she was merely shepherding the couple's still-intertwined finances.
While Anne McClain's lawyer said that the astronaut had done nothing wrong and accessed the bank record while abroad the ISS in order to monitor the couple's combined finances - something she had done over the course of their relationship.
Summer Worden said that FTC has not responded to the identity theft report, but that an investigation specializing in criminal cases with Nasa's officer of Inspector General has been looking in the matter.
First published: 25 August 2019, 11:50 IST