U.S. astronauts to vote from space

Source: Xinhua | 10-28-2008 10:58

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Americans from all over the world will vote for the next U.S. president on Nov. 4, the election day, but few ballots will have traveled as far as those cast by two NASA astronauts.

International Space Station crewmembers (from L) Oleg Kononenko, Yury Lonchakov, Sergei Volkov, Commander Mike Fincke, spaceflight participant Richard Garriott and Gregory Chamitoff wave goodbye during farewell  ceremonies inside the Harmony module of the station October 23, 2008.REUTERS/NASA TV

Commander Edward Michael Fincke and Flight Engineer Gregory Chamitoff are living and working onboard the International Space Station. Though they are 350 kilometers above Earth and orbiting at 28,000 kms per hour, they will still be able to participate in the upcoming election, NASA said on Monday.

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 local 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 down linked and delivered back to the county clerk's 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 a special message to Earth.

"We are exercising our Constitutional right and privilege in casting our ballot this Election Day," Fincke said in the video.

In remarks that aired on NASA TV on Monday, Fincke and Chamitoff urged their fellow citizens to take the time to vote: "If we can do it, so can you." They ended their message with a zero-gravity flip.

Joined by Expedition 18 Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov, Fincke and Chamitoff also beamed down a message celebrating the upcoming 10th anniversary of the station's launch.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei