Sunita Williams to Cast Vote from Space: How NASA Enables Astronauts to Participate in the 2024 US Presidential Election
A Look at the Unique Voting Process for American Astronauts, Ensuring No Citizen is Left Behind
Voting for the US presidential election is taking place today. After voting, counting will begin and the results will be announced. This time there is a contest between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris to become the new President of America. While millions of Americans are going to polling stations to exercise their franchise in the 2024 elections, some people in space will also cast their votes.
To ensure that no one is left behind, NASA has come up with a plan so that astronauts can also perform their civic duties while in space. According to reports, there are currently four Americans in space who would like to exercise their right to vote. Two of them are Boeing Starliner astronauts, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who will remain in space until February.
What did Sunita Williams say?
Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams expressed her desire to vote from space at a conference in September. She said, 'As a citizen, this is an important duty of ours and I am looking forward to voting from space, it will be great.'
How does the voting process take place in space?
NASA sets up a voting process that is similar to absentee ballots. This means that people who are unable to go to their designated polling station can take advantage of this process. Ballots are sent 1.2 million miles between the space station and the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas.
Astronauts first request an absentee ballot by filling out a federal postcard application and then fill out an electronic ballot. Next, this document is sent through NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System to a large antenna at the agency's test facility in New Mexico. From there, NASA transmits the ballot to the Mission Control Center, which sends it to the county clerk responsible for depositing the ballot. To ensure privacy, the ballot is encrypted and is only accessible to the astronaut and the ballot clerk.
When was the first vote cast in space?
According to NASA, David Wolf was the first person to vote in space in 1997, while Kate Rubins was the last astronaut to vote from the International Space Station during the 2020 US elections.