An American flag is visible in the windows of the cupola aboard the International Space Station. Thanks to a bill passed by Texas legislators in 1997 that put in place technical voting procedure for astronauts – nearly all of whom live in Texas – they have the ability to vote from space through specially designed absentee ballots. To preserve the integrity of the secret vote, the ballot is encrypted and only accessible by the astronaut and the county clerk responsible for casting the ballot. (Photo by NASA)

Syrian government troops patrol the newly captured al- Sakhour neighbourhood in the eastern part of the northern city of Aleppo on December 7, 2016 Rebels in Aleppo called for a five- day truce and the evacuation of civilians Wednesday after losing more than three quarters of their territory including the Old City to a Syrian army offensive. (Photo by George Ourfalian/AFP Photo)

Members of the Iraqi Army fire towards Islamic State militant positions at the south of Mosul, Iraq December 10, 2016. (Photo by Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters)

Hot air balloons fly over the sky in Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand, December 6, 2014. The two-day International Balloon festival 2014 featuring balloon pilots from Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Britain, and Czech Republic is held on December 06-07 2014 to celebrate Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 87th birthday and also aimed to promote the tourism industry in Chiang Mai northern city. (Photo by Pongmanat Tasiri/EPA)

An Indian Sadhu, or Hindu holy man, sits for a community feast at the Sangam, the confluence of the Rivers Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati, during the annual month-long Magh Mela religious fair in Allahabad, India, Friday, January 16, 2015. Hundreds of thousands of devout Hindus are expected to take holy dips at the confluence during the astronomically auspicious period of over 45 days celebrated as Magh Mela. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)

A Sri Lankan elephant, accompanied by his mahout, browse through a roadside fruit stall in Colombo on January 19, 2015. The Sri Lankan elephant is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as the population has declined by at least 50 percent over the last three generations, with the species threatened by habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation. (Photo by Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP Photo)

Protesters wear masks, the left in the colors of the Kenyan national flag, as they join others carrying mock coffins and red-painted crosses, symbolizing the blood of the 28 non-Muslims singled out and killed in the recent attack on a bus in Mandera by Somali militant group al-Shabab, outside government offices in downtown Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, November 25, 2014. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)