A female NASA astronaut has denied committing the first-ever crime in space and revealed details of a ‘painful’ separation with her husband
Anne McClain admitted accessed her spouse’s bank account while aboard the International Space Station but denies any wrongdoing.
The spacewoman told the New York Times she simply used the account to check the family’s finances and ensure there was enough money to pay for the care of ex-partner Summer Worden’s son, who they had been raising together before the break-up.
Worden, an Air Force intelligence officer, filed for divorce last year after a four-year marriage and has reportedly filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.Now her estranged astronaut wife has spoken out on Twitter to deny the allegations.
‘There’s unequivocally no truth to these claims,’ she wrote.
“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.
Her lawyer Rusty Hardin also said: ‘She strenuously denies that she did anything improper.’
McClain graduated from the prestigious West Point military academy and flew more than 800 combat hours over Iraq as an Army pilot.
She was chosen to fly for Nasa in 2013 and spent six months aboard the ISS.
At one stage, she was due to take part in an all-female spacewalk which was cancelled at the last minute because there were no available spacesuits.
Last week Mark Sundahl, director of the Global Space Law Center at Cleveland State University, said he was not aware of any previous allegation of a crime committed in space
He told the New York Times: ‘Just because it’s in space doesn’t mean it’s not subject to the law.
The more we go out there and spend time out there, all the things we do here are going to happen in space.’
There are five national or international space agencies involved in the ISS – the US, Canada, Japan, Russia and European Space Agency
The person who is alleged to have committed a crime would be punished according to their country’s laws.
Culled from metro.co.uk
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