The divorce case has details that are all too familiar - two partners at loggerheads, a young child caught in the middle and claims of financial malpractice.

Except there is a twist. The person accused of wrongdoing was in space.

In what is believed to be a first, Nasa is investigating whether one of its astronauts committed a crime while in orbit.

The person in question, Anne McClain, was taking part in a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station [ISS] when the incident took place.

Taking advantage of the ISS’s internet connection, Ms McClain accessed the bank account of her partner while they were separating, according to a report from The New York Times.

The partner, a former Air Force intelligence officer called Summer Worden, has accused Ms McClain of identity theft and improperly accessing her finances, according to the account.

Ms McClain in turn has denied any wrongdoing, arguing that she was simply overseeing the couple’s intertwined money arrangements as she had done in the past.

NASA’s Office of Inspector General is now investigating.