Two U.S. astronauts cast vote from space

As the U.S. gets ready for a nail-biting election on Tuesday, two American astronauts who are orbiting the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour have already cast their votes from space.

According to NASA, astronaut Shane Kimbrough has officially filed his electronic absentee ballot from the International Space Station (ISS).

Another astronaut Kate Rubins cast her ballot before returning to Earth last week.

For astronauts, the voting process starts a year prior to their launch. They are asked to select which elections (local/state/federal) that they want to participate in while in space.

Then, six months before the election, astronauts are provided with a standard form: the “Voter Registration and Absentee Ballot Request — Federal Post Card Application”, the U.S. space agency said in a statement.

“Space voting” was first used in 1997.