Nasa astronauts casted their ballots for the US election from outer space.
The astronauts including Kate Rubins, Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS) 400 kilometers above Earth, participated in the election, with a special process designed by Nasa.
Voting from space might seem like a complicated task, but Nasa has developed a streamlined system that ensures astronauts can still take part in the democratic process.
Similar to absentee voting, astronauts submit a request for their ballot ahead of time. The ballot is sent securely via email, encrypted and password-protected. The astronauts then complete their ballot on a computer.
Once filled out, the astronauts send their vote back to Nasa, where it’s forwarded to the local election office in Harris County, Texas.
This system was established in 1997, following a law in Texas that allows astronauts to vote while in orbit. Over the years, this tradition has become an important part of Nasa’s operations, with many astronauts, including Kate Rubins, who voted in both the 2016 and 2020 elections from space, taking part.
The system acts as reminder that everyone’s vote matters, no matter where they are. Originally scheduled to return to Earth by now, both astronauts will stay aboard the ISS until February 2025, making this election their first opportunity to cast a vote from orbit.
