Station Astronauts Urge Americans to Vote

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Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff are living and working onboard the International Space Station. Though they are 220 miles above Earth and orbiting at 17,500 miles per hour, they will still be able to participate in the upcoming election. A 1997 bill passed by Texas legislators sets up a technical procedure for astronauts -- nearly all of whom live in Houston -- to vote from space.

A secure electronic ballot, generated by the Harris and Brazoria County Clerk's office, is uplinked by NASA's Johnson Space Center Mission Control Center. An e-mail with crew member-specific credentials is sent from the County Clerk to the crew member. These credentials allow the crew member to access the secure ballot.

The astronauts will cast their votes and a secure completed ballot is downlinked and delivered back to the County Clerks Office by e-mail to be officially recorded.

To highlight their unique voting situation and to encourage others to exercise their civic duty, Fincke and Chamitoff sent this special message.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• vote
• presidential
• 2008
• space
• station
• astronauts