NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, and Don Pettit have successfully voted early for the upcoming presidential election from the International Space Station (ISS), according to the Harris County Clerk of Court’s Office in Texas. The astronauts shared a photo on Instagram showcasing their patriotic socks, with two of them stating, “Proud to be American.”
Wilmore and Williams are part of over 1.2 million early voters in Harris County, Texas. They cast their ballots via NASA’s Near Space Network, a system that transmits data between the ISS and mission control on Earth. “It’s a very important duty that we have as citizens, and I’m looking forward to being able to vote from space, which is pretty cool,” Williams expressed during a news conference from the station.
Originally, Wilmore and Williams were expected to return to Earth before the presidential election. However, NASA decided to extend their stay until 2025 due to safety concerns about the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. As a result, the astronauts found themselves over 200 miles above their nearest polling place on Election Day.
Thanks to a special Texas law enacted in 1997, astronauts are allowed to vote absentee while in space. This law enables them to participate in elections even if they are on a mission during the early voting period or on Election Day. David Wolf was the first astronaut to vote from space in 1997 aboard the Russian Mir Space Station.
Voting procedures for astronauts involve encrypted electronic ballots. Once they complete their ballots, the forms are uploaded to the ISS’s onboard computer system, then transmitted to a ground antenna in New Mexico. After being processed, the votes are sent to the respective county clerk’s office in Texas. Wilmore and Williams are expected to return to Earth aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft in February 2025, well after they’ve already cast their votes.
