Astronauts To Vote From Space
October 27, 2008
Commander Mike Fincke (right) and Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff send a special message from the International Space Station urging all Americans to vote. Credit: NASA TV
(PhysOrg.com) -- In this day and age, people engage in their right to vote from all over the world. But this Nov. 4, few ballots will have traveled as far as those cast by two NASA astronauts.
Commander Edward Michael Fincke and Flight Engineer and Science Officer Greg Chamitoff are living and working onboard the International Space Station. Though they are 220 miles above Earth and orbiting at 17,500 miles per hour, they will still be able to participate in the upcoming election. 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 the Harris and Brazoria 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 downlinked and delivered back to the County Clerk’s Office by e-mail to be officially recorded.
Provided by NASA
-
Solar storm sparks dazzling northern lights
Jan 25, 2012 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
-
Solar storm expected to fire up northern lights
Jan 24, 2012 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
-
AP Enterprise: NASA, cruise line got flu shots
Mar 18, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to Help Astronauts Survive in Infinity
Apr 17, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (12) |
5
-
Russia blames radiation for space probe failure
Jan 31, 2012 |
4 / 5 (2) |
4
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
5 / 5 (21) |
19
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (2) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
4.1 / 5 (21) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Derivation of Pogson's law
13 hours ago
-
Landing on comet by Rosetta probe in 2014 (YouTube)
23 hours ago
-
Star whose pressure support is degenerate electrons.
Feb 01, 2012
-
Reflecting Telescope or Refracting Telescope?
Feb 01, 2012
-
Effects of Solar Flares on the Moon and Equiptment used for lunar exploration
Jan 31, 2012
-
Pulsar Frequency Question and Fast Fourier Transform
Jan 31, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - General Astronomy
More news stories
Scientists chart high-precision map of Milky Way's magnetic fields
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) are part of an international team that has pooled their radio observations into a database, producing the highest precision map to date of ...
11 hours ago |
4.7 / 5 (6) |
10
|
Coral growth in Western Australia found to be thriving in warmer water
(PhysOrg.com) -- As most people are well aware, global warming isn’t just about the atmosphere, it’s about rising ocean temperatures as well. And like increases in the atmosphere, scientists aren’t ...
13 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
7
|
Surface of Mars an unlikely place for life after 600 million year drought, say scientists
Mars may have been arid for more than 600 million years, making it too hostile for any life to survive on the planet's surface, according to researchers who have been carrying out the painstaking task of analysing ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
11 hours ago |
4.2 / 5 (9) |
2
|
Global extinction: Gradual doom is just as bad as abrupt
A painstakingly detailed investigation shows that mass extinctions need not be sudden events. The deadliest mass extinction of all took a long time to kill 90 percent of Earth's marine life, and it killed ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
11 hours ago |
3.9 / 5 (16) |
0
|
Mission to land on a comet
Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft is en route to intercept a comet– and to make history. In 2014, Rosetta will enter orbit around comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenkoand land a probe on it, two firsts.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
13 hours ago |
5 / 5 (2) |
1
|
Amazon fungi found that eat polyurethane, even without oxygen
(PhysOrg.com) -- Until now polyurethane has been considered non-biodegradable, but a group of students from Yale University in the US has found fungi that will not only eat and digest it, they will do so even in the absence ...
Whole exome sequencing identifies cause of metabolic disease
Sequencing a patient's entire genome to discover the source of his or her disease is not routine – yet. But geneticists are getting close.
Hearing metaphors activates brain regions involved in sensory experience
When a friend tells you she had a rough day, do you feel sandpaper under your fingers? The brain may be replaying sensory experiences to help understand common metaphors, new research suggests.
Renowned physicist invents microscope that can peer at living brain cells
(PhysOrg.com) -- Ever since scientists began studying the brain, they’ve wanted to get a better look at what was going on. Researchers have poked and prodded and looked at dead cells under electron microscopes, ...
New kind of high-temperature photonic crystal could someday power everything from smartphones to spacecraft
A team of MIT researchers has developed a way of making a high-temperature version of a kind of materials called photonic crystals, using metals such as tungsten or tantalum. The new materials — which ...
Hackers intercept FBI, Scotland Yard call (Update)
(AP) -- Trading jokes and swapping leads, investigators from the FBI and Scotland Yard spent the conference call strategizing about how to bring down the hacking collective known as Anonymous, responsible ...
