Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) will be able to vote in the U.S. election.
The crew — including two stuck there after the Boeing Starliner malfunctioned — will beam their votes back to Earth thanks to a high-tech encrypted system.
NASA’s Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore — stuck in space until at least February 2025 — said they intended to vote from orbit, and had requested absentee ballots so they can still cast their vote for the election.
Wilmore said in a September press interview: “I sent down my request for a ballot today. As a matter of fact, they should get it to us in a couple of weeks.
“It’s a very important role that we all play as citizens, to be included in those elections, and NASA makes it very easy for us to do that. So we’re excited about that opportunity.”
Williams added: “It’s a very important duty that we have as citizens and looking forward to being able to vote from space, which is pretty cool.”
NASA astronauts aboard the Space Station have the opportunity to vote in general elections through absentee ballots or early voting in coordination with the county clerk’s office where they live.
Just like any other American away from home, astronauts can fill out a Federal Post Card Application to request a ballot.
After an astronaut fills out an electronic ballot aboard the orbiting laboratory, the document flows 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.
From New Mexico, NASA transfers the ballot to the Mission Control Center at NASA Johnson and then on to the county clerk responsible for casting the ballot.
To preserve the vote’s integrity, the ballot is encrypted and accessible only by the astronaut and the clerk.
The first American to vote for president in space was Leroy Chiao in 2004 who was onboard the ISS in 2004. While American astronaut Kathleen Rubins voted on two occasions, in 2016 and 2020.
