In this video screenshot, astronauts Suni Williams (left) and Butch Wilmore participate in a NASA press conference discussing the Boeing Starliner on September 13. NASA
In June, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams launched aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) for a planned short mission. They were expected to return after about a week, several months before the U.S. presidential election in November. However, unforeseen technical concerns with the Starliner capsule led NASA to deem it unsafe for their return, extending the astronauts' stay in space until early 2025. As a result, they will now be floating in low-Earth orbit during the upcoming election.
Despite the plan change, Wilmore and Williams won't miss out on voting. A Texas law, passed in 1997, allows astronauts to vote absentee from space, ensuring they can still participate in the election while on their mission. Williams expressed her excitement about voting from space, calling it a "cool" experience, while Wilmore also emphasized the importance of fulfilling their civic duty. Both astronauts shared these sentiments during a press conference from the space station on September 13.
Voting from space isn't new; the practice began in 1997 when astronaut David Wolf cast his ballot from Russia's Mir Space Station. Since then, many U.S. astronauts have followed suit, with NASA providing an easy and secure process for them to vote. For instance, astronaut Leroy Chiao recalled his experience voting from space during a 2004 mission, highlighting how NASA quickly enabled him to vote via an absentee ballot. He also used the opportunity to encourage others to vote, seeing it as a valuable public service announcement.
The process for casting ballots from space is straightforward. NASA uses its Near Space Network, which consists of satellites that transmit data between the ISS and Earth. The astronauts receive an encrypted ballot via email, fill it out, and send it back through the same network. NASA encrypts the document to ensure its security before routing it through several steps on Earth. First, it reaches the NASA White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, then it's passed on to mission control in Houston, and finally, it's delivered to the local county clerk responsible for processing votes.
Both Wilmore and Williams reside near NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas' Harris County, which coordinates the voting process. A spokesperson for the Harris County clerk explained that before the actual ballot is sent, a test ballot with a unique password is first delivered to ensure everything works smoothly. After the test is successful, the astronauts receive their official ballots. Once they cast their votes, their ballots are printed and processed alongside other absentee ballots.
Wilmore and Williams' ballots will land on Earth months before they do, as they are expected to return in February 2025. They will travel back aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft.
