NASA宇航員如何在太空中投票?

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

距離美國大選僅有幾周，美國宇航局近日揭祕宇航員如何在太空中投票。

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

美國宇航局送給宇航員的格言是“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."

美國宇航局在其網站上寫道：“和其他缺席投票的形式一樣，從太空中投票先要填寫聯邦明信片申請表。這張表和在美國境外服役的軍人及其家庭要填寫的是相同的。空間站工作人員在飛往太空前填寫好申請表，表示願意從太空參加大選投票。”

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.

美國宇航局指出，因爲宇航員會到休斯頓培訓，大多數人會選擇作爲德克薩斯州居民投票。宇航局補充道：“當然，美國宇航局的宇航員來自美國各地，所以那些希望作爲家鄉居民投票的宇航員可以和自己家鄉所在的縣協商出太空投票的特殊方案。”

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.

美國宇航局稱，一旦聯邦明信片申請被批准，宇航員家鄉所在縣負責大選管理事務的書記官將發送一張測試選票到美國宇航局的約翰遜航天中心。美國宇航局會用空間站測試計算機來檢測選票能否被填寫併發回給縣書記官。

"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."

美國宇航局稱：“測試成功後，德州哈里斯縣和周邊縣的書記官辦公室會生成一張密封的電子選票，通過約翰遜航天中心的任務控制中心上傳給要投票的宇航員。縣書記官將給這名宇航員發送一封帶有宇航員專屬認證信息的電子郵件。這些認證信息讓該宇航員可以打開密封選票。”

"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."

美國宇航局補充道：“然後這名宇航員就可以投票，填寫完的密封選票將被下傳並通過電子郵件發回給縣書記官辦公室並保留在官方記錄中。書記官有專屬密碼來確保自己是唯一可以打開選票的人。這個流程很快就可以完成，如果作爲德州居民投票，宇航員必須確保在大選日的當地時間晚7點前提交。”

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，美國宇航局的宇航員謝恩·金布羅作爲地球外的唯一一個美國人，在國際空間站給美國總統選舉投了票。

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.

美國宇航局解釋道，這套制度於1997年首次實行，當時前宇航員大衛·沃爾夫正在俄羅斯老空間站米爾號執行一次長時間的飛行任務。因爲沃爾夫執行任務期間會舉行美國大選，於是就建立了這一流程，讓他能夠在太空中投票。

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.

2020年將會有更多的美國宇航員在太空中投票。比如，凱特·魯賓斯，她將於10月14日從哈薩克斯坦的拜科努爾航天發射基地搭乘俄羅斯聯盟號太空飛船前往軌道空間實驗室，並將第二次在太空中投票。四年前魯賓斯曾在國際空間站執行任務的115天期間進行過太空投票。她在2016年10月30日返回地球前投了票。