Leroy Chiao

Leroy Chiao is a Chinese American engineer and former NASA astronaut. From 1991 to 2006, he logged six spacewalks and experienced 229 hours in space, over his four missions with NASA. Fluent in Mandarin and English, Chiao learned Russian prior to serving as an Expedition Commander for Expedition 10 on the International Space Station. In doing so, he was able to communicate better with the Russian cosmonauts. During the 2004 U.S. presidential election, he voted from onboard the ISS, making him the first American to vote in a presidential election from space.