A Kansas woman has been sentenced to jail time after prosecutors said she falsely accused her estranged spouse, NASA astronaut Anne McClain, of committing a crime while on the International Space Station.

Summer Heather Worden, a former Air Force intelligence officer, was sentenced Thursday to three months in federal prison and two years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. The 51-year-old was also ordered to pay $210,000 in restitution.

This comes after Worden pleaded guilty to lying to law enforcement in November.

The case stems from allegations Worden made against McClain in July 2019. The court heard evidence that Worden “falsely accused her former spouse of illegally accessing her bank account from the International Space Station while the couple was going through a divorce,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Investigators learned Worden “opened her bank account in April 2018, and both parties accessed it until January 2019, when Worden changed the account credentials,” the agency said. They also said Worden gave her wife access to her bank records and login credentials as early as 2015.

“Even after an internal investigation exonerated the former spouse, Worden continued promoting the false claim to news outlets and hired a media consultant to amplify the claim. The evidence further showed Worden publicly released her former spouse’s personal information,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Worden was allowed to remain out on bond until her sentencing hearing. She’s now expected to “voluntarily surrender to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future,” prosecutors said.

McClain, 46, has maintained that she had permission to access Worden’s accounts, The New York Times reports.

In November, the NASA astronaut said Worden “presented a story to federal investigators and to the media with the intention of harm,” according to the Times.

“From the outset, there was no evidence supporting her claims, and overwhelming evidence disproving them. As I continue my public service, I remain committed to the values that have defined my career and which held up under the closest scrutiny,” she added.

McClain joined NASA in 2013. During her first spaceflight, she spent more than 200 days as a flight engineer and completed two spacewalks.

Most recently, she commanded NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission, which launched in March 2025. McClain served as a flight engineer for 146 days and completed a nearly six-hour spacewalk during that mission.

The Independent has contacted Worden’s attorney and McClain for comment.