EXPLAINED: How NASA’s astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will participate in the US election
Stuck on the International Space Station until 2024, NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will vote in the 2024 US presidential election from space. They will utilize a secure online voting system specifically designed for astronauts, a practice established in 1997.
FollowSunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, two NASA astronauts, are stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) and won't be able to return to Earth until the US presidential election in 2024. Both astronauts are determined to vote despite their prolonged stay in space, taking use of a method meant for astronauts to vote remotely. "It's a very important role that we play as citizens, including those elections," Wilmore stated on Friday. "NASA makes it very easy for us to do that."
How will Sunita Williams & Butch Wilmore vote from space?
Astronauts from NASA like Williams and Wilmore are permitted to cast ballots in US elections even if they are located far from typical polling places. They adhere to a procedure put in place when lawmakers in Texas approved a measure enabling astronauts to cast ballots while in orbit back in 1997.
Astronaut David Wolf was the first to do this, casting his ballot from the now-defunct Mir Space Station run by the former Soviet Union. Astronauts now cast their votes online using a safe procedure designed especially for their particular circumstance.
The astronauts live in Harris County, Texas, and their election authorities collaborate closely with NASA to make the process easier. Electronic votes in the form of a PDF file with clickable boxes are sent to the astronauts.
The Harris County clerk's office representative, Rosio Torres-Segura, told NBC News that the ballots are sent to the astronauts in a fillable form so they may make their choices, save it, and return it. Every time, a test ballot with a special password is sent out first. Their live ballot is returned, printed, and processed together with other votes once they cast their vote.
Know 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. Numerous astronauts have since employed this technique to carry out their democratic responsibility while in orbit. The first American to vote from space was David Wolf, and more recently, NASA astronaut Kate Rubins used the International Space Station to vote in the 2020 election.
The Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) infrastructure of NASA, which guarantees the safe transfer of sensitive data like votes, facilitates the procedure. The electronic absentee ballot is completed by the astronaut, encrypted, and sent over NASA's Near Space Network. The ballot is transmitted to Mission Control in Houston, then to the appropriate county clerk, via NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellites via a terrestrial antenna in New Mexico.
What's next?
The astronauts are preparing for their eventual return to Earth in February 2025 as they carry out their prolonged stay on the International Space Station. Elon Musk's SpaceX, which intends to return the astronauts aboard the Crew-9 voyage, will be a major player in their homecoming. Even while spending so much time apart from friends and family might be emotionally taxing, both astronauts stay committed to their objective. Williams said that she had been a little anxious about her prolonged stay, but her family's support had given her comfort.
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