NASA’s Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore voting from Space via orbiter ballots

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are stuck in space and will likely remain there until February next year.

Meanwhile, America will hold its 2024 presidential election in November 2024. Despite being stranded in space after Boeing’s solo return, the astronauts will still cast their votes. Reflecting on their recent challenges, the two described the past few months as “trying at times,” but Williams noted that the transition to station life was manageable, saying, “This is my happy place. I love being up here in space.”

Stranded astronauts to cast their votes in US elections
Since 1997, NASA astronauts have been casting their votes from the International Space Station (ISS). To do so, electronic ballots are transmitted to and from the orbiting laboratory.

The process is less complicated than expected: ballots are beamed up to the ISS, where astronauts fill them out. Once completed, the ballots are electronically sent back to Earth. Upon arrival, they’re processed by the designated county clerk.

To ensure security, the ballots are encrypted before being transmitted to NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston, as per the website. From there, they’re forwarded to the appropriate county clerk for processing.

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore send ‘request for ballot’
“I sent down my request for a ballot today,” Wilmore said during a recent press conference according to Fox Weather. “As a matter of fact, they should get it to us in a couple of weeks and absolutely, yes, it’s a very important role that we all play as citizens to be included in those elections. And that’s what makes it very easy for us to do that. So, we’re excited about that opportunity.”

In 1997, the Texas lawmakers made a law that let NASA astronauts vote while they were up in space. David Wolf was the first one to try it out on the Mir Space Station. This setup makes sure that astronauts can vote in elections and keep in touch with their democratic rights even though they’re way out in space.

Stranded Astronauts on ‘tough time’ and ‘happy place’
Even though these two retired Navy captains and long-time NASA astronauts have always called space their ‘happy place,’ they recently admitted they’ve been having a tough time. Boeing’s Starliner ran into technical issues, leaving them stranded on the ISS. What was meant to be a one-week test mission has turned into several months, and they’ll be up there for almost a year before SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, can come to their rescue in February.

Wilmore shared, “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.”

Ms Williams found adapting to life on the space station relatively easy, given her previous experience there, and expressed her love for being in space. Mr. Wilmore admitted that Boeing needs to make some changes because of the problems they’ve run into, but he also mentioned that both Boeing and the team are dedicated to making those changes happen. “Boeing’s on board with that. We’re all on board with that.”

He continued, “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.”