Former NASA astronaut shares importance of voting

This evening, former NASA astronaut Linda Godwin spoke to Lehigh students about the importance of compromise and civic participation during an event titled “Voting and Space.”

The event was organized by a collaboration between Lehigh’s Community Service Office and Astronauts for America, a nonpartisan organization of former NASA astronauts. Founded this April, the group of over 100 former astronauts focused on protecting constitutional democracy and fostering civic engagement, according to their website.

The event is part of a series called the Vote for Freedom campaign, put on by Astronauts for America aimed at reaching college students ahead of the November midterm elections.

Godwin said Astronauts for America began out of conversations of former astronauts who shared concerns about the current direction of the political environment.

She said those discussions began developing toward the end of 2025, when several of the former astronauts realized they had similar concerns and began reaching out to colleagues.

Godwin flew four space shuttle missions between 1991 and 2001. During the event, she drew on her experiences of international collaboration throughout her career as an astronaut and how it relates to the importance of overcoming political differences and participating in democracy.

During her presentation, Godwin discussed her path to NASA, beginning with her interest in science as a child and continuing through higher education. She received her bachelor’s degree from University of Southeast Missouri and her master’s and doctoral degrees in physics at the University of Missouri.

She said changes to NASA’s astronaut selection process made it possible for scientists and women to participate in the program, opening a career she never imagined possible. Godwin walked students through her four missions: working aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, leaving the spacecraft to work in outer space twice and visiting the Russian space station, Mir, and the International Space Station.

Throughout the presentation, she emphasized the importance of international cooperation and how integral it was to successfully carry out space missions. She shared images of her crew aboard the Mir with Russian cosmonauts who had hung an American flag next to the Russian flag.

During one mission which focused on radar observations of Earth, Godwin said many of the scientists had competing priorities over what locations would be studied. Because the mission could not accommodate every request, it required compromise.

“Nobody got exactly what they wanted,” Godwin said.

She connected this back to the current polarization of the country and how compromise is something that can happen when people have different priorities. 

Godwin said the different responsibilities of crew members during a mission is similar to the responsibilities citizens have in a democracy. 

She encouraged students to participate in the electoral process and to consider the importance of electing leaders willing to work with people who have different views.

Godwin also said maintaining the organization’s nonpartisan status while calling out specific political developments the organization opposed is a struggle at times.

Julia McDougall, assistant director of the Community Service Office, said Astronauts for America initially contacted them about organizing the event. She also said that Lehigh professor and former NASA astronaut Terry Hart, ’68, helped connect the office with the organization.

“Having Terry Hart as a professor on campus was also a really big pull,” McDougall said.

She said the office moved quickly to organize the event before the voter registration deadline. According to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s website, the deadline to register to vote for the midterm election is Oct. 19. The last day to request a mail-in or absentee ballot is Oct. 27.

McDougall, who helps oversee civic and democratic engagement at Lehigh, said that the event aligned with the Community Service Office’s work encouraging students to be active participants in their community. She also discussed how Godwin’s experiences showed how cooperation and responsibility extended beyond space exploration.

“She really emphasized the points of collaboration, working together with people and how her lessons that she had in space connect to folks’ civic duty to go out and vote,” McDougall said.

Chase Bartolini, ‘28, said the discussion provided an opportunity to hear about Godwin’s experiences with a wide assortment of international astronauts and scientists.

“Culture (has) to bridge those gaps between people,” Bartolini said. 

He said his takeaway from the event is the importance of making informed decisions.

Despite her concerns about the political climate, Godwin said she remains optimistic about the future and discussed that meeting students and speaking with people individually has reinforced her belief that Americans aren’t as divided as we are portrayed.

“I think we’re kind of falsely accused of being so divided sometimes,” Godwin said.

Godwin said that the goal shouldn’t be expecting the country to be perfect, but to recognize when change is necessary.

“We just want to keep working in the right direction,” Godwin said. “And if we get a little off course, you course correct and you get back on it.”