On US election day, astronauts Butch Wilmore, Sunita Williams, and Don Pettit shared shared an image of themselves on Instagram whereas sporting socks in patriotic hues. Out of three, the socks of two astronauts featured a message — “Proud to be American.”
In keeping with the Texas Harris County Clerk of Court docket’s Workplace, the three astronauts forged early ballots for president from the Worldwide House Station.
Over 1.2 million people. together with the astronauts, forged early ballots in Harris County, Texas.
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Right here’s how astronauts forged their votes
Ballots forged in area are despatched to Earth through NASA’s Close to House Community, a community of satellites in orbit that connect with antennas on Earth, very similar to nearly all of knowledge despatched between the area station and mission management.
Throughout a press convention from the area station on September 13, Williams instructed reporters, “It is an important responsibility that now we have as residents, and I am trying ahead to having the ability to vote from area, which is fairly cool.”
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Voting from area has been doable for American astronauts since 1997, when the Texas Legislature handed a invoice that said “an individual who meets the eligibility necessities of a voter… however who might be on an area flight throughout the early-voting interval and on election day”.
In the identical 12 months, NASA astronaut David Wolf, who spent 4 months aboard Russia’s Mir House Station, grew to become the primary US citizen to “vote whilst you float.”
Leroy Chiao, a now-retired NASA astronaut, was one in every of a number of astronauts who’ve since forged ballots from area.
