The Texas woman who once claimed her astronaut spouse carried out the first criminal act in outer space has now admitted she fabricated the entire story.

Summer Worden pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators after touching off a bizarre 2019 saga that had NASA scrambling and reporters buzzing about the possibility of an off-planet crime. Prosecutors say she now faces up to five years in federal prison and a potential $250,000 fine for the false accusations she leveled at astronaut Anne McClain.

“In July 2019, Summer Heather Worden alleged her estranged spouse had guessed the password and illegally accessed her bank account while the spouse was deployed to the International Space Station,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas said.

“However, Worden had actually opened the account in April 2018. Both parties had accessed it until January 2019 when Worden changed the credentials,” the office said. “The investigation revealed Worden had granted her spouse access to her bank records from at least 2015, including her login credentials.”

Worden’s sensational claim — which ricocheted across headlines as the first allegation of a crime committed in space — triggered inquiries from the Federal Trade Commission and NASA’s inspector general, according to the New York Times. The paper noted that the case thrust NASA into an uncomfortable spotlight, with the agency forced to address questions about extraterritorial jurisdiction, astronaut conduct and whether its own internal safeguards had been breached.

The Times also described Worden as a decorated Air Force intelligence officer. It wrote that McClain, a West Point graduate and Iraq War veteran who joined NASA in 2013, has continued to rise through the ranks. McClain returned to the International Space Station in March as commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission, underscoring her standing within the agency despite the very public accusations she once faced.

Worden and McClain’s relationship had already unraveled by the time the investigation gained steam. The pair divorced in January 2020, KSDK reported, ending a years-long partnership that had included McClain’s high-profile selection to NASA’s astronaut corps.

Federal prosecutors said Worden will be sentenced on Feb. 12, 2026. She will remain free on bond until then, though the plea means she will almost certainly face consequences for a hoax that wasted government resources and briefly cast a shadow over one of NASA’s most prominent astronauts.

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