Nasa astronaut Sunita Williams, currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS), is preparing to vote in the US presidential election while orbiting Earth, approximately 400 km above its surface.
Elections can still be conducted by spacecraft if they are able to travel to their voting stations. Astronauts use a technique that mirrors the absentee ballot approach to cast their votes, much like how people on Earth do it.
An astronaut receives an electronic copy of the Federal Post Card after submitting an application for an absent poll. The room station is then transported by this technological vote to Mission Control at Nasa’s Johnson Space Center in Texas, where it travels a remarkable distance, reaching 1.2 million miles.
The ballot’s trip relies on the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System for safe transmission. Before arriving at Johnson Space Center, the encrypted poll moves from the space station to a check facility in New Mexico. Lastly, the ballot arrives at its last place: the aircraft’s county clerk, who actually counts the voting.
This approach ensures the pilot’s vote remains private, as merely Williams and the county clerk have access to the vote.
This is not the first moment an American astronomer has cast a ballot in place. In 1997, astronaut Kate Rubins cast her ballot from the ISS during the 2020 US votes, and astronomer David Wolf was the first to do so.
Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, currently orbiting Earth on the Boeing Starliner capsules, are expected to return in February, after the election.
