你可能没想到美国宇航员也可以在太空中参加美国大选！最近，美国宇航局透露了他们的宇航员是如何实现太空投票的。让我们看看。

An American flag in one of the windows of the International Space Station's cupola (NASA)

With the US election just weeks away, NASA has explained how astronauts vote in space.

在美国大选前几周，美国宇航局最近透露了宇航员如何在太空投票。

The space agency has a motto of “Vote while you float” for astronauts.

美国宇航局给宇航员的格言是漂着投票。

"Like other forms of absentee voting, voting from space starts with a Federal Postcard Application, or FPCA,” NASA says on its website. “It’s the same form military members and their families fill out while serving outside of the US. By completing it ahead of their launch, space station crew members signal their intent to participate in an election from space.”

美国宇航局在其网站上写道：就像其他缺席投票一样，联邦明信片申请表应该先从太空中投票。这张表和在美国境外服役的士兵及其家人一样。空间站工作人员在飞往太空前填写申请表，表示愿意从太空参加选举。

NASA notes that because astronauts move to Houston for their training, most opt to vote as Texas residents. “Of course, NASA’s astronauts come from all over, so those wishing to vote as residents of their home states can work with their counties to make special arrangements to vote from space,” it adds.

美国宇航局指出，由于宇航员将在休斯顿接受培训，大多数人将选择作为德克萨斯州的居民投票。宇航局补充说：当然，美国宇航局的宇航员来自美国各地，所以想投票给家乡居民的宇航员可以与家乡的县协商一个特殊的太空投票计划。

Once the FCPA is approved, the county clerk who manages elections in the astronaut’s home county sends a test ballot to a team at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, according to NASA. A space station test computer is then used to test whether it can be filled out and sent back to the county clerk.

美国宇航局表示，一旦联邦明信片申请获得批准，负责选举管理的秘书将向美国宇航局的约翰逊航天中心发送测试票。美国宇航局将使用空间站测试计算机来测试选票是否可以填写并发回县秘书。

"After a successful test, a secure electronic ballot generated by the Clerk’s office of Harris County and surrounding counties in Texas, is uplinked by Johnson’s Mission Control Center to the voting crew member,” NASA says. “An e-mail with crew member-specific credentials is sent from the County Clerk to the astronaut. These credentials allow the crew member to access the secure ballot.”

美国宇航局表示：测试成功后，德州哈里斯县及其周边县的秘书官办公室将通过约翰逊航天中心的任务控制中心生成密封的电子选票，并上传给要投票的宇航员。县秘书将向宇航员发送一封具有宇航员独家认证信息的电子邮件。这些认证信息允许宇航员打开密封选票。

"The astronaut will then cast their vote, and the secure, completed ballot is downlinked and delivered back to the County Clerk’s Office by e-mail to be officially recorded,” NASA adds. “The clerk has their own password to ensure they are the only one who can open the ballot. It’s a quick process, and the astronaut must be sure to submit it by 7 pm local time on Election Day if voting as a Texas resident.”

美国宇航局补充说：然后宇航员就可以投票了。填写的密封选票将通过电子邮件下传并发回县书记办公室，并保留在官方记录中。秘书有专属密码，以确保他是唯一能打开选票的人。这个过程很快就会完成。如果作为德州居民投票，宇航员必须确保在选举日当地时间晚上7点前提交。

In 2016, NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, who at the time was the only American off the planet, voted in the presidential election from the International Space Station.

2016年，美国宇航局宇航员谢恩·作为地球外唯一的美国人，金布罗在国际空间站投票给美国总统选举。

NASA explained that the system was first employed in 1997 for former astronaut David Wolf when he was flying a long-duration mission on the old Russian space station Mir. Because Wolf’s mission spanned Election Day the process was set up to enable him to vote in space.

美国宇航局解释说，该系统于1997年首次实施，当时前宇航员大卫·沃尔夫正在俄罗斯旧空间站米尔执行长期飞行任务。由于沃尔夫在执行任务期间将举行美国大选，这个过程已经建立起来，让他在太空中投票。

In 2020, more NASA astronauts will cast their votes in space. Kate Rubins, for example, is scheduled to launch to the orbiting space lab on Oct 14 aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and will vote in space for the second time. Rubins also voted in space four years ago during a 115-day stint on the International Space Station. She voted prior to her return to Earth on Oct 30, 2016.

更多的美国宇航员将在2020年在太空投票。例如，凯特·鲁宾斯将于10月14日从哈萨克斯坦拜科努尔航天发射基地乘坐俄罗斯联盟号太空飞船前往轨道空间实验室，并将第二次在太空中投票。四年前，鲁宾斯在国际空间站执行任务的115天内投票。她在2016年10月30日回到地球前投票。

stint[stɪnt]: n. 工作时间

英语来源：福克斯新闻：

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