American astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) voted in the presidential election. They cast their votes according to the postal voting procedure.
Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who arrived on the ISS in June, voted in the presidential election. Due to technical glitches, their stay was extended to eight months, which means that their return to Earth is planned for February next year.
Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore Robert Markowitz/NASA
Under a law in Texas since 1997, astronauts could fulfill their civic duty along with other Americans eligible to vote, even though they are currently in Earth orbit, about 320 kilometers above the nearest polling place. The astronauts cast their votes according to the postal voting procedure. As she said NASAthis procedure involves encrypting ballots and sending them through an on-board computer to the mission control center in Las Cruces, New Mexico. They are then delivered electronically to officials at polling stations. According to space.com, the two remaining NASA astronauts on the ISS – Donald Pettit and Nick Hague – probably voted before the September flight to the ISS, filling out ballots intended for Americans abroad. The first American astronaut to vote while in Earth orbit was David Wolf in 1997, during a four-month mission aboard the Russian Mir space station.
International Space StationDima Zel/Shutterstock
Main photo source: Dima Zel/Shutterstock