This year’s election comes at a pivotal time in US history. In fact, it’s so important, one citizen is casting her ballot all the way from space. On election day, astronaut Kate Rubins will cast her ballot from the International Space Station 200 miles above the Earth.
“We consider it an honor to be able to vote from space,” Rubins told the Associated Press. She was the first person to sequence DNA in space and will be completing a six-month mission on the International Space Station in November. After casting her vote, Rubins’ ballot will be forwarded electronically from Mission Control in Houston with her address listed as “low-Earth orbit.”
The first American ballot was cast from space by John Blaha in 1996 who was serving on Russia’s Mir Space Station. Since the construction of the International Space Station, astronauts have been spending more extended periods of time in space, making offering voting abilities above the atmosphere more critical.
The final date to register to vote in most US states is in October. If Rubins can cast her ballot from space, you can sure do it from Earth!
Image Source: NASA