According to the Harris County Court Clerk's Office in Texas, astronauts Butch Wilmer, Sunny Williams and Don Pettit participated in early voting in the U.S. presidential election on the International Space Station. NASA astronauts posted a photo on Instagram on Election Day wearing socks with elements of the American flag. Two of the astronauts' socks read "Proud to be an American." How do astronauts vote? Votes in space are beamed to Earth in the same way data is transferred between the space station and mission control, via NASA's Near Space Network.