U.S. astronauts aboard the International Space Station can cast electronic ballots while orbiting about 250 miles above Earth. (Foto: Instagram)
NASA astronaut Anil Menon said on social media Tuesday, Nov. 3, that U.S. crew members aboard the International Space Station cast ballots electronically while in orbit. The station is about 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth.
Menon said the station has a small, private area with a computer where astronauts can complete an electronic voting form. “Today, we have the privilege of being able to vote, just like you on solid ground,” he said.
Millions of U.S. voters are casting ballots in the midterm elections, which will determine all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the Senate’s 100 seats. Voters are also choosing governors in 36 states.
NASA says astronauts have been eligible to vote from space since 1997, when the Texas Legislature approved a law allowing them to cast ballots in orbit. An electronic ballot completed aboard the station is sent through NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System to a ground antenna at the agency’s White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
NASA then sends the ballot to Mission Control at Johnson Space Center and on to the county election office responsible for the vote. The ballot is encrypted and can be accessed only by the astronaut and the election office, NASA says, preserving the confidentiality of the vote.
