US and NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore on Friday said that they will vote from space in the upcoming US Presidential elections 2024 as they are stuck on International Space Station and their return possibly delayed. Interact with the media from space, Wilmore said he sent down his request to cast their ballot as it is a very important duty and NASA makes sure that they are able to vote. Sunita said she is looking forward to being able to vote from Space.
Both astronauts are stuck in space, and they are likely to return to Space X next year. "What we look forward to is being here and being part of the crew that's here. We have been part of expedition 71. They are a great bunch of people and we've tried to just jump in and do whatever we can. We are waiting for Nick and Alex to get up there as part of expedition 72, once we handover," said Sunita Williams.
This was their first media briefing since the Boeing Starliner capsule that took them to the ISS in June returned to Earth. They were not carried along as the capsule developed many technical snags deemed too risky for them. Sunita said both of them were aware that it was a test flight, and hence, it could take more time than just eight days. She said it was not hard to accept that they would be staying at the ISS longer.
"When Buch and I were preparing for this flight, we talked about being on test flight and knowing that it was scheduled for eight days, there could be other things that would keep us here a little bit longer/ We've been training for not only Starliner but also the International Space Station for a number of years. Both of us have been up here before, so we have a little bit of experience," said astronaut Sunita Williams.
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"We are trained to handle any kind of situation," Butch Wilmore chipped in. "I don't look back...we deal with all kind of difficulties in all kind of situations. This is not an easy business. Eight days or eight months whatever it is, we are going to do our best job. That's the mindset," Butch said.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore Media Conference From International Space Station
Sunita Williams said she was a little bit nervous that she was not returning home on time. "In the back of my mind, there are folks on the ground who have some plans like my family...spending times with my mother. And I think I was fretting more about that. Like the things we had planned for this fall or winter...but everybody was on board and that prepared us," Sunita said.
The two Starliner test pilots - both retired Navy captains and longtime NASA astronauts - will stay at the orbiting laboratory until late February 2025. They have to wait for a SpaceX capsule to bring them back.