Reddit | RyanSmith

World's First Space Crime Allegedly Committed, Astronaut Under Investigation

Near the landing site of the Apollo 11 mission, a stainless steel plate reads "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot on the moon, we came in peace for all mankind."

Although space travel can be a dangerous, intensely stressful enterprise, astronauts have done very well to live up to that message of peace. Granted, we haven't met anyone to fight with on these missions, but people can get pretty tired of each other when you put them together in a cramped spacecraft.

So there's something to be said for the fact that until now, nobody has been accused of any criminal activity that took place outside of the earth's atmosphere.

Not only that, but we're still in the early stages of determining whether a crime took place even in the case we're about to look at.

At present, Anne McClain is considered one of NASA's top astronauts.

Reddit | Bluekef

As a NASA representative said in a statement obtained by CBS News, this comes after a distinguished military career that saw her fly multiple combat missions in Iraq.

They added, "She did a great job on her most recent NASA mission aboard the International Space Station."

While her professional life would be enviable to many, this has not been a particularly good year for her personal life.

Reddit | AdamCannon

According to CBS News, she is now separated from her wife, Summer Worden, and is in the midst of a custody battle over her son.

During this battle, Worden became suspicious about McClain's knowledge of some details about her spending habits.

Reddit | RyanSmith

What she then discovered was that McClain had used Worden's login information to access her bank account while on a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

Worden's suspicions were confirmed when her bank revealed that one of the devices used to access the account came from a computer network operated by NASA.

Reddit | WildWeazel

McClain confirmed she accessed the account while in space, but said she did so as a means of keeping tabs on the couple's financial situation and to ensure they had enough money to pay bills and comfortably care for their son.

As her lawyer, Rusty Hardin said, "She strenuously denies that she did anything improper."

Nonetheless, Worden has filed complaints with NASA's Office of Inspector General and the Federal Trade Commission.

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In them, she alleges that McClain engaged in identity theft and had improper access to her private financial records.

According to CBS News, the FTC has yet to respond to Worden's identity theft report and Hardin said McClain is cooperating with the Inspector General's investigation.

h/t: CBS News

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