American astronauts can cast their vote from space according to a law passed in 1997 by the state of Texas. The ballot is sent to the Johnson Space Center’s Mission Control in Houston, Texas, which sends to the International Space Station (ISS) electronically, along with a particular code for the astronaut to access their personal ballot. After the astronaut votes, the ballot is sent back to Mission Control which delivers it to the voting authorities in Texas. In 2004, Leroy Chiao became the first NASA astronaut and the first American to vote in a presidential election while in space.
Here’s how that law comes into practice before Election Day: Before the mission, an astronaut identifies which elections he or she will be in orbit for. Then, before Election Day, an encrypted electronic ballot is uplinked to the astronauts by JSC’s Mission Control. Using a set of unique credentials sent to each of them by e-mail, astronauts can access their ballots, cast their votes, and downlink them back down to Earth to the County Clerk’s office.
Picture Credit : Google