October 25, 2020

Astronaut Kate Rubins Just Voted From Space

A feel-good story about voting in 2020? You got it.

NASA

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NASA astronaut Kate Rubins didn’t let a pesky thing like space travel stop her from casting a ballot in this year’s hotly contested election. Instead, she cast her ballot from space.

The agency apparently has a “vote as you float” policy for its astronauts, which enabled Rubin to vote while on her mission. In this case, Rubins went into a makeshift voting booth in the International Space Station and submitted a specialized electronic ballot.

The process itself is fairly complex. Astronauts have to signal before they leave Earth for their missions if they intend to vote or not, and then the county clerk from their home district sends a test to NASA’s Johnson Space Center to make sure the process is working. After that, a secure ballot is sent to the astronaut via email. 

Millions of Americans have voted early, and many more are braving the pandemic to vote in person. Election day is November 3.

 

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That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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