NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough made sure his voice was heard this presidential election, even all the way from outer space.
Kimbrough is currently orbiting through space in the International Space Station, where he arrived mid-October. Mission Control forwarded the ballot to him through secure email, which Kimbrough completed and sent back to the county clerk in Houston, Texas where he resides when he is back on Earth.
He is currently the only American at the International Space Station, which he shares with two Russian astronauts. Next week, the space station will add three more crew members, including one more American astronaut. Kimbrough returns to Earth in February, and spoke to the Associated Press last month about returning home to a new president.
According to Kimbrough, astronauts are "pretty much apolitical." He told reporters last month, "I'll be glad to welcome the new president, whoever that is."
Texas passed a law in 1997 that allows American astronauts to vote from space, permitting NASA to carry out their motto: "Vote while you float."
It is good to know that NASA and the state of Texas have made sure that all United States citizens can vote, even if they are hurtling through space at 17,500 miles an hour, while orbiting 200 miles above the Earth's surface.
