三名美国宇航员从国际空间站投票：选票经卫星加密传回地球
11月3日是美国中期选举的选举日。正在国际空间站执行第75远征队任务的三名美国宇航员 Anil Menon、Jessica Watkins 与 Luke Delaney，当天在距地面约400公里的轨道上填写电子选票，并通过美国航天局（NASA）的卫星网络把选票加密传回德克萨斯州 Harris County 的选举办公室。
Menon 当天在空间站里录制视频说：「今天我们在这里同样有幸能够投票，就像你们在地面上一样。」他指着自己的睡舱说，这间小舱「兼作我的投票间，里面有我的电脑，我就是在那里填好电子表格、把选票发到 Harris County，好让我今天投上票」。视频中他衣服上别着一枚「I voted」（我已投票）的徽章。
据航天局说明，宇航员投票与普通缺席投票走同一套程序：先以联邦明信片申请表（Federal Post Card Application）申请缺席选票，在站上填好电子选票后，选票经跟踪与数据中继卫星系统传到位于 New Mexico 州 Las Cruces 的 White Sands 测试场地面天线，再转到位于 Houston 的 Johnson 航天中心任务控制中心，最后送交负责该名宇航员选票的县书记官。选票全程加密，只有宇航员本人与书记官能够打开。
宇航员从太空投票始于1997年：德克萨斯州当年立法，允许在提前投票期与选举日期间身处太空飞行任务、无法本人到场的合资格选民以电子方式投票，宇航员 David Wolf 同年从俄罗斯「和平号」空间站投出第一票。由于 Johnson 航天中心位于 Houston，许多宇航员把选民登记放在 Harris County。
本届三名投票者中，Menon 于2026年7月14日乘俄罗斯联盟号飞船抵达空间站，Watkins 与 Delaney 于10月1日乘 SpaceX 飞船抵达。本届中期选举改选联邦众议院全部435个席位与参议院100个席位中的35个，并选举多州州长等地方职位。
（来源：美国航天局）
Three U.S. Astronauts Vote in the Midterms From the International Space Station: Ballots Relayed to Earth by Satellite
November 3 was Election Day in the U.S. midterm elections. Three American astronauts serving on the International Space Station's Expedition 75 crew — Anil Menon, Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney — filled out electronic ballots that day in orbit, about 250 miles above Earth, and sent them through NASA's satellite network, encrypted, to the election office in Harris County, Texas.
In a video recorded aboard the station, Menon said: "Today we have the privilege of being able to vote here as well, just like you on the ground." Pointing to his sleep compartment, he said the small quarters "double as a voting booth" for him: "Inside is my computer, where I was able to fill out an electronic form and send it to Harris County so I could vote today." He wore an "I voted" pin in the video.
According to NASA, astronauts vote through the same absentee process as other Americans away from home: they request an absentee ballot with a Federal Post Card Application, complete an electronic ballot aboard the station, and the ballot then flows through the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System to a ground antenna at the White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico. NASA transfers it to Mission Control at Johnson Space Center in Houston, and on to the county clerk responsible for the astronaut's ballot. The ballot is encrypted and can be accessed only by the astronaut and the clerk.
Voting from space dates to 1997, when Texas passed a law allowing eligible voters on space flights during the early-voting period and on Election Day to cast ballots electronically; astronaut David Wolf cast the first such vote that year from Russia's Mir space station. Because Johnson Space Center is in Houston, many astronauts register to vote in Harris County.
Of this year's three space voters, Menon arrived at the station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on July 14, 2026, while Watkins and Delaney arrived aboard a SpaceX vehicle on October 1. This year's midterms decide all 435 U.S. House seats, 35 of the 100 Senate seats, and governorships and other state and local offices.
(Source: NASA)
来源：美国航天局
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：国际空间站（Crew-2 绕飞时拍摄，美国航天局 NASA，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons）
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
