Nasa astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are stranded aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and won’t return to Earth before the 2024 US presidential election.
Despite their extended stay in space, both astronauts are determined to cast their ballots, leveraging a process designed for astronauts voting remotely. As Wilmore put it on Friday, “It’s a very important role that we play as citizens including those elections, and Nasa makes it very easy for us to do that.”
Here’s how they’ll manage to vote from beyond Earth’s atmosphere.
How will Sunita Williams & Butch Wilmore vote from space?
Although far from traditional polling stations, Nasa astronauts like Williams and Wilmore are still able to participate in US elections. They follow a system established back in 1997 when Texas lawmakers passed a bill allowing astronauts to vote from space.
This was first used by astronaut David Wolf, who voted from the now defunct Mir Space Station operated by the erstwhile Soviet Union. Today, astronauts vote using a secure electronic process specifically tailored for their unique situation.
Election officials from Harris County, Texas, where both astronauts reside, work closely with Nasa to facilitate the process. The astronauts receive their ballots electronically in the form of a PDF file with clickable boxes.
As Rosio Torres-Segura, a spokesperson for the Harris County clerk’s office, told NBC News, “Before sending the astronauts their ballot, it is transferred to a fillable document so that they can make their selections, save it, and send it back. A test ballot with a unique password is always sent first. Once they vote on their live ballot, it is returned, printed, and processed with other ballots.”
Who will the Nasa astronauts vote for?
Since both astronauts live in Texas, they’ll be voting in the state’s high-profile elections, including the US presidential race and the Texas Senate election. While they haven’t shared which candidates they’ll choose, they will have the option to select between former US President Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidential race.
.@NASA+ is live now as @NASA_Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams discuss their space station mission with journalists on Earth. https://t.co/nn0Ip0sPVe
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) September 13, 2024
In the US Senate election, they can decide between incumbent Republican Senator Ted Cruz and his Democratic challenger, Congressman Colin Allred. The Senate race, in particular, is expected to be tightly contested.
“I sent down my request for a ballot today,” Wilmore revealed to reporters on Friday.
What is the technology behind space voting?
The tradition of voting from space began in 1997, the same year Texas passed its landmark law allowing astronauts to cast their ballots remotely. Since then, several astronauts have used this method to fulfill their democratic duty while in orbit.
David Wolf was the first American to vote from space, and more recently, Nasa astronaut Kate Rubins cast her vote in the 2020 election from the ISS.
The process is facilitated through Nasa’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) infrastructure, which ensures the secure transmission of sensitive data like ballots.
Once the astronaut completes their electronic absentee ballot, it’s encrypted and transmitted via Nasa’s Near Space Network. The ballot passes through Nasa’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellites to a ground antenna in New Mexico before being sent to Mission Control in Houston and eventually to the relevant county clerk.
How are Williams & Wilmore faring in space?
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have been stranded on the ISS since early June 2024 after a technical issue with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Initially, their mission was supposed to last just eight days. However, due to problems with the spacecraft, the pair will remain in space until February 2025, when they are expected to return aboard a SpaceX capsule.
After extensive review by experts across the agency, NASA’s @BoeingSpace Crew Flight Test will return with an uncrewed #Starliner. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are scheduled to return to Earth next spring aboard #Crew9: pic.twitter.com/c4NzZVJcvw
— NASA (@NASA) August 24, 2024
Wilmore reflected on their unexpected extended stay, stating, “It’s been quite a journey over the last three months. We’ve been involved in every step of assessing our spacecraft.” He added, “And it was trying at times. There were some tough times all the way through.”
Despite the challenges, both astronauts have maintained a positive outlook. Williams, a veteran of the ISS, remarked, “This is my happy place. I love being up here in space.” She noted that the transition back to station life was not difficult for her due to her prior experience.
“We wanted to take Starliner to the completion and land back on land at home, but you know, you have to turn the page and look at the next opportunity,” she added.
Wilmore, though disappointed that they couldn’t return aboard Starliner, praised the ongoing efforts to improve the spacecraft. “When you push the edge of the envelope again and you do things with spacecraft that have never been done before, just like Starliner, you’re going to find some things,” he explained.
Despite the setbacks, he expressed confidence in Boeing’s commitment to resolving the issues, noting, “Boeing’s on board with that. We’re all on board with that.”
What next?
As the astronauts continue their extended mission aboard the ISS, they are gearing up for their eventual return to Earth in February 2025. Elon Musk’s SpaceX will play a critical role in their homecoming, with plans to bring the astronauts back aboard the Crew-9 flight.
While being away from family and friends for such a long period has its emotional toll, both astronauts remain focused on their mission. Williams acknowledged that she had been slightly nervous about the extended stay but felt reassured by the support of her family.
“In the back of my mind, there are folks on the ground who have some plans, like my family… spending time with my mother,” she shared. “But everybody was on board and that prepared us.”
As for Wilmore, he expressed no regrets about staying longer in space. “We could have gotten to the point, I believe, where we could have returned on Starliner, but we just simply ran out of time,” he said.
Despite the technical challenges that have delayed their return, the two Nasa astronauts will exercise their right to vote from space, upholding the democratic process in an environment few can imagine.
With inputs from agencies
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Publish date : 2024-09-13 18:15:00
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