increasingly important to use our power and vote out the people who currently sit in the Oval Office. So whether you’re present somewhere down in
America or in another orbit outside the surface of Earth – just vote!
Up to four American
astronauts plan to vote in the general election as they realize the significance of this moment. They’ve decided to
vote during the general election from the outer hemisphere – continuing the
longstanding tradition of people casting votes from space.
The first astronaut to
cast in her vote at the ISS is Kate Rubins. She’ll be launching on a Russian
Soyuz rocket on the 14th of October with two Russian cosmonauts.
She says that it is highly important for people to vote. If people can vote from the space then folks can do it too from the ground.
Rubins will be followed
by Mike Hopkins, Viktor Glover, and Shannon Walker – currently, on the second
flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, they’ll be catching up with her at the ISS on
the 31st of October. A Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi will be in
their company as well. They all plan to vote from the orbit this year.
This will be the second
time that Walker will be voting from the orbit. She did it the first time
during her International Space Station trip back in 2010.
She says that all of them are going to vote from the space. She says that NASA goes well with various election organizations as we all vote in various counties.
Contrary to popular
belief, casting a ballot from space is a fairly straightforward process.
There’s been a continuous human presence on the International Space Station for
the past two decades all thanks to NASA and its consistent efforts.
So basically, before
they take off, NASA astronauts are asked to fill out a Federal Post Card
Application – the same form that military members use in case of absence due to
deployment during the election.
If it’s approved, the county
clerks overseeing the election within each applicant’s home counties send out
test ballots to NASA. The agency also checks whether or not the ballots can be
filled in space. If confirmed, the NASA’s Mission Control Center emails them
ballots on the Election Day.
The rest of the process is as usual.
Of course, the process
may be simple but nothing about voting from space is ordinary. Whether you’re
in space or in the USA, you know that this year specifically has been a rough year
for Americans, thus the SpaceX’s Crew Dragon is aptly named Resilience.
means functioning well in times of stress or overcoming adverse events. I think
all of us can agree that 2020 has certainly been a challenging year: a global
pandemic, economic hardships, civil unrest, and isolation.”
– Said Hopkins about the name.
Let’s take inspiration
from these bright minds and cast in our votes on the Election Day!