Astronauts Stranded at International Space Station Plan to Vote in 2024 Election
People who hate on mail-in ballots are going to be howling at the moon after this one … ’cause a couple astronauts are casting their votes from the International Space Station.
Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams — the 2 astronauts who went up to space on the Boeing Starliner, and who are now stuck after safety concerns with their craft arose — spoke with reporters Friday … and, they say they still plan on voting.
Wilmore says he sent his request for a ballot down to Earth Friday … adding that NASA helps all its astronauts secure ballots. Both astronauts touched on how they feel it’s their civic duty to cast their votes come the first Tuesday in November.
In case you’re wondering how the process works … election officials in Harris County, Texas — where NASA’s Johnson Space Center is located — send clickable PDFs to the astronauts so they can make their selections, according to NBC News.
Astronauts first started voting from space in the late 1990s … so, nothing out of the ordinary here — though there are a couple more astro-ballots beaming down than NASA originally anticipated.
As you know … the Boeing Starliner capsule returned to Earth about a week ago — cruising back down unmanned after a series of issues made NASA too nervous to allow the 2-person crew to return with their spaceship.
Butch and Sunita — who originally went up in June for what was supposed to be a week-long mission — are stuck in outer space for another 6 months or so … catching a ride on one of Elon Musk‘s SpaceX ships early next year.
Sounds like their votes will make the trek down before they do … democracy in action!