Astronaut Anne McClain has denied reports that she may have committed the first crime in space.
McClain’s estranged wife, Summer Worden, accused the astronaut of accessing her bank account while on a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station, The New York Times first reported.
“There’s unequivocally no truth to these claims,” McClain wrote on Twitter. “We’ve been going through a painful, personal separation that’s now unfortunately in the media.”
McClain’s lawyer told investigators that the astronaut had accessed the bank records while aboard the ISS in order to monitor the couple’s combined finances — something she had done over the course of their relationship, the Times reported.
Worden has not accused McClain of moving or using the money in the account she accessed, the Times reported.
Worden, a former Air Force intelligence officer, filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission accusing McClain of identity theft for improperly viewing the account. Soon after, her family filed a second complaint with NASA’s Office of Inspector General.
NASA has touted McClain’s accomplishments saying, “”Lt Col. Anne McClain has an accomplished military career, flew combat missions in Iraq and is one of NASA’s top astronauts.”