Astronauts cast early ballots from space station

(AP) -- Red states. Blue states. And now voting from a weightless state.

The three Americans orbiting the planet on Election Day have cast their ballots.

Space station astronaut Scott Kelly voted Sunday via a secure e-mail system. Douglas Wheelock and Shannon Walker also voted recently 200-plus-miles up. Kelly said Tuesday it was an "honor and a privilege" to vote from the .

As for the six shuttle astronauts headed soon to the space station, they voted back home in Houston before heading to NASA's Florida launch site last week. Discovery is scheduled to lift off Wednesday.

Texas legislators passed a bill in 1997 allowing to vote from orbit. Space station residents have taken advantage of that many times since.

More information: NASA: http://www.nasa.gov

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Citation: Astronauts cast early ballots from space station (2010, November 2) retrieved 28 March 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2010-11-astronauts-early-ballots-space-station.html
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