A question from RT about missing the US presidential election and the possibility of staying in space for four years to avoid the term of either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump has tickled US astronaut Robert Kimbrough.
RT correspondent William Whiteman raised the issue of the November 8 vote with Kimbrough during a press conference of the crew of the next International Space Station (ISS) expedition at Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan.
“You're going to be blasting off tomorrow and in doing so you're going to miss the US presidential elections next month… Given it's either going to be Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump in the White House when you're due to return to Earth, are you considering just staying in space, at least for four more years?" Whiteman asked.
The question gave everybody present at the event, including Kimbrough and the rest of the crew, a good laugh.
But the astronaut, for whom it will be a second space voyage, gave a very diplomatic answer.
“As for the candidates – I’m pretty much apolitical. So I’m going to come back, regardless of who’s the president and I’ll be glad to work under the new president, whoever that is,” he said.
On Tuesday, the Russian state commission at Baikonur approved the crew for the upcoming ISS expedition.
Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko will launch into space together with Kimbrough aboard the Soyuz MS-02 rocket on October 19.
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The 49-year-old American was part of the shuttle mission back in 2008, during which he took part in two space walks.