NASA astronauts aboard the ISS can vote in the US presidential election too. How? It’s not like there are any polling stations near them. Well, it’s sort of like an absentee ballot but obviously different because it’s from FREAKING SPACE.
How does it work? Here’s what Live Science says:
Astronauts residing on the orbiting lab receive a digital version of their ballot, which is beamed up by Mission Control at the agency’s Johnson Space centre (JSC) in Houston. Filled-out ballots find their way back down to Earth along the same path.
“They send it back to Mission Control,” said NASA spokesman Jay Bolden of JSC. “It’s a secure ballot that is then sent directly to the voting authorities.”
The voting is regulated by the same bill that was passed in 1997 — even if you’re not on our planet, you can still vote. So if you’re already on our planet, you pretty much have no excuse not to vote now. [Live Science]
Image: NASA