French Astronaut Thomas Pesquet was able to accomplish something truly unique aboard the International Space Station recently. Despite being hundreds of miles away from his home country, Pesquet was able to cast his vote in the French election with the help of a friend as France goes through one of its most turbulent election in modern times.

It just goes to show that Pesquet has a strong sense of civic pride as well as a sense of duty. Pesquet, who is the youngest ESA astronaut, also faced the additional obstacle of the fact that his place of residence is in Frankfurt, Germany — not now, obviously, but that’s where his home is on Earth.

So he needed the help of a colleague in France to vote in the first round of the French elections on April 23. Pesquet gave power of attorney to his colleague to vote on his behalf while he circled the Earth 249 miles above the ground.

Pesquet described himself as a passionate follower of the election who has been open on his political preferences. He once remarked, “we must not judge candidates on the color of their tie but really on what they propose and what they will do,” according to Tech Times.

He also said in an interview with Franceinfo that it’s “important to open up and understand that the world is done with others, not against others, that we need more bridges than walls,” suggesting that he is not supportive of anti-immigration far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.

Pesquet is part of a six month mission that begin in November in 2016, and he works closely with astronauts Oleg Novitsky and NASA’s Peggy Whitson.

Marine Le Pen will face off against heavily favored moderate candidate Emmanuel Macron later this year.