A NASA astronaut votes from a bunk bed in space on Election Day 2022
A NASA astronaut votes from a bunk bed in space on Election Day 2022
At least one ballot this year came from this world.
NASA astronaut Josh Cassada buttoned up the sleeve of his International Space Station (ISS) bunk bed, creating a modified voting booth to vote in the US midterm elections from space Tuesday (November 8).
“I’ve voted my whole adult life, but this year’s voting booth definitely takes the cake,” joked Cassada, a U.S. Navy captain. tweet (opens in new tab) showing the closed bed. “I am so grateful to everyone – especially democracy – for allowing me to remain a part of this essential process this year.”
Cassada and the other American astronauts currently stationed at the complex are eligible to vote in absentia. The process involves the astronaut filling out a Federal postcard application (opens in new tab) vote before launch. (It’s similar to the absentee ballot used by other US citizens, but it’s aimed at populations living overseas or, in Cassada’s case, in space.)
Related: Election 2022: How astronauts vote from space
Other eligible American voters among Expedition 68 include Kjell Lindgren (American born in Taiwan), Loral O’Hara, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins (the first black female on a long-duration flight), Nicole Mann (first Indian woman in space) and Frank Rubio (first Salvadoran American woman in space).
“I can’t confirm if the individuals on board will vote — that has to come from them,” Dan Huot, NASA’s public affairs manager for the ISS, told Space.com when asked if others were planning to. Huot, however, confirmed that the absentee voting procedure had previously been used by a NASA astronaut Kate Rubin 2020 is identical to what is possible in 2022.
I’ve voted my entire adult life, but this year’s voting booth definitely takes the cake. So I am grateful to everyone – especially Democracy – for allowing me to remain a part of this essential process this year. pic.twitter.com/l9r83wxoxjNovember 8, 2022
NASA has been a top item on the political agenda in recent months. US President Joe Biden confirmed the agency’s commitment to remain on the ISS until 2030. enactment of the CHIPS Act this summer. NASA’s 2023 budget received a A claim of $23 billion from the White House, with a promise to put astronauts on Mars by 2040.
During Russian invasion of Ukraine which began in February, however, broke up most space partnerships other than the ISS and set the tone for tense international moments. One recent example is Russia’s threats that it will shoot at American commercial satellites watching Ukraine from orbit, prompting a response from the White House.
The government-funded military space has also been quite active in recent years with the creation of the new United States Space Force unit committing to provide “critical intelligence on threat systems, foreign intentions and activities in the space domain.”
Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of “Why am I taller? (opens in new tab)?” (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a space medicine book. Follow her on Twitter @howellspace (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).
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