Brief by Shorts91 Newsdesk / 05:10am on 04 Nov 2026,Wednesday International
Indian-origin NASA astronaut Anil Menon made headlines after casting his vote in the 2026 US midterm elections aboard the International Space Station (ISS), approximately 400 kilometres above Earth. Menon, alongside fellow astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, completed electronic ballots and securely transmitted them to election officials in Harris County, Texas. In a video shared on X, Menon demonstrated how his sleeping compartment doubled as a polling booth. NASA's encrypted communication system ensures voting confidentiality. The facility has enabled American astronauts to vote from space since 1997, when Texas introduced legislation permitting orbital voting.
