A Wichita woman whose sensational accusation sparked global headlines—claiming her astronaut spouse was “hacking” her bank account from the International Space Station—has been sentenced in federal court after admitting the story was false.

Federal prosecutors said Summer Heather Worden, 51, was sentenced to three months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay more than $200,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to lying to federal authorities. The case traces back to July 2019, when Worden alleged her estranged spouse, NASA astronaut Anne McClain, illegally accessed her bank account while McClain was deployed aboard the ISS—an accusation widely amplified as a potential “first crime in space.”

Investigators, however, said the “outer space identity theft” narrative fell apart under basic scrutiny. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Worden opened the account in 2018, but both spouses accessed it until January 2019, when Worden changed credentials—undercutting the claim that McClain “guessed” a password from orbit. Prosecutors also said evidence showed Worden had granted McClain access to banking records and login credentials as early as 2015.

The sentencing lands like a crater because the story was never just gossip—it triggered serious scrutiny, including investigations referenced in public reporting after the allegation went viral. Worden later pleaded guilty in November 2025, and the court’s punishment now seals the official conclusion: the headline-grabbing claim that fueled a media frenzy was built on lies, not evidence.

In the end, the judge wasn’t sentencing “interstellar hacking.” The court was sentencing the fallout of a viral fabrication—one that dragged a real astronaut, real agencies, and real public trust into orbit.