Edward Michael "Mike" Fincke (born March 14, 1967) is an American

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

and retired

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

. He formerly held the American record for the most time in space (382 days) until it was broken by Scott Kelly on October 16, 2015. Fincke has logged nine spacewalks, totaling 48 hours and 37 minutes of EVA time. He is unique in that six of those spacewalks were in a Russian Orlan spacesuit. Before his next launch, Fincke will have been certified as a pilot for both

Boeing Starliner The Boeing Starliner (or CST-100) is a spacecraft designed to transport crew to and from the International Space Station (ISS) and other low-Earth-orbit destinations. Developed by Boeing under NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP), it consists o ...

and

SpaceX Crew Dragon Dragon 2 is a class of partially reusable spacecraft developed, manufactured, and operated by the American space company SpaceX for flights to the International Space Station (ISS) and private spaceflight missions. The spacecraft, which cons ...

, as well as a co-pilot/flight engineer on the

Soyuz Soyuz is a transliteration of the Cyrillic text Союз (Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, 'Union'). It can refer to any union, such as a trade union (''profsoyuz'') or the Soviet Union, Union of Soviet Socialist Republi ...

and a mission specialist on the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

. Mike Fincke was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

but considers its suburb

Emsworth Emsworth is a town in the Borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England near the border with West Sussex. It lies at the north end of an arm of Chichester Harbour, a large and shallow inlet from the English Channe ...

to be his hometown. He is a retired

officer and an active

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

astronaut. So far, he served two tours aboard the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

as a

flight engineer A flight engineer (FE), also sometimes called an air engineer, is a member of an aircraft's flight crew who is responsible for monitoring and operating its complex aircraft systems. In the early era of aviation, the position was sometimes referr ...

and commander. He flew on one

mission,

STS-134 STS-134 (ISS assembly sequence, ISS assembly flight ULF6) was the penultimate mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the 25th and last spaceflight of . This flight delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier ...

, as a

mission specialist Mission specialist (MS) is a term for a specific position held by astronauts who are tasked with conducting a range of scientific, medical, or engineering experiments during a spaceflight mission. These specialists were usually assigned to a s ...

. Fincke is conversant in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

. He is married to Renita Saikia, and together, they have three children; son Chandra and daughters Tarali and Surya. Fincke logged just under 382 days in space, placing him 10th among the most experienced American astronauts.

Education

Fincke graduated from

Sewickley Academy Sewickley Academy is a private, independent, coeducation, college-preparatory academy located in Sewickley, Pennsylvania in the United States. The Academy educates 594 students, from pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade. It is a member of the Nation ...

Sewickley, Pennsylvania Sewickley is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, west northwest of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River. It is a residential suburb of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 3,907 at the 2020 census. The Sewick ...

, in 1985. He attended the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

on an

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...

scholarship and graduated in 1989 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in

aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design process, design, and manufacturing of air flight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. While the term originally referred ...

and

astronautics Astronautics (or cosmonautics) is the practice of sending spacecraft beyond atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere into outer space. Spaceflight is one of its main applications and space science is its overarching field. The term ''astronautics' ...

as well as a

degree in

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

atmospheric An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

and

planetary sciences Planetary science (or more rarely, planetology) is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), celestial bodies (such as moons, asteroids, comets) and planetary systems (in particular those of the Solar System) and the processes of their f ...

. He then received a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree in aeronautics and astronautics from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1990, and a second

degree in

planetary geology Planetary geology, alternatively known as astrogeology or exogeology, is a planetary science discipline concerned with the geology of celestial bodies such as planets and their moons, asteroids, comets, and meteorites. Although the geo- prefix t ...

from the

University of Houston–Clear Lake The University of Houston–Clear Lake (UHCL) is a public university in Pasadena, Texas, Pasadena and Houston in Texas, with branch campuses in Pearland, Texas, Pearland and Texas Medical Center. It is part of the University of Houston System, U ...

in 2001. He also attended

El Camino College El Camino College (Elco or ECC) is a public community college in Los Angeles County, California. Most of it is in Alondra Park,Torrance, California Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan ...

, where he studied

and

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

Career

Immediately after graduating from MIT in 1989, Fincke attended a summer exchange program with the

Moscow Aviation Institute Moscow Aviation Institute () is an engineering research university in Moscow, Russia. It is designated a National Research University. Since its inception the institute has been spearheading advances in aerospace technology both within Russia a ...

in the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, now Russia, where he studied Cosmonautics. After graduation from Stanford University in 1990, Fincke entered the

where he was assigned to the Air Force Space and Missiles Systems Center,

Los Angeles Air Force Base Los Angeles Air Force Base (LAAFB) is a United States Space Force base located in El Segundo, California. Los Angeles Air Force Base houses and supports the headquarters of the Space Systems Command field command of the United States Space Fo ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. There he served as a Space Systems Engineer and a Space Test Engineer. In 1994, upon completion of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School,

Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, California, Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County and a souther ...

in California, Fincke joined the 39th Flight Test Squadron,

Eglin Air Force Base Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso, Florida, Valparaiso in Okaloosa County, Florida, Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, where he served as a flight test engineer working on a variety of flight test programs, flying the

F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it e ...

and

F-15 The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force (USAF) selected McDonnell Douglas's des ...

aircraft. In January 1996, he reported to the Gifu Test Center, Gifu Air Base in Japan, where he was the United States flight test liaison to the Japanese/United States XF-2 fighter program. By 2024, Fincke had accumulated over 2000 flight hours in more than 30 different varieties of aircraft and held the rank of

. Fincke belongs to the

Association of Space Explorers Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

and

The Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904 and has served as a meeting point for ex ...

NASA career

Fincke was selected by

in April 1996 to be an astronaut. He reported to the

Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight in Houston, Texas (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight controller, flight control are conducted. ...

in August 1996. Having completed two years of training and evaluation, he was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Station Operations Branch serving as an International Space Station spacecraft communicator (ISS CAPCOM), a member of the Crew Test Support Team in Russia and as the ISS crew procedures team lead. In July 1999, Fincke was assigned as backup crewmember for the

Expedition 4 Expedition 4 was the fourth expedition to the International Space Station (7 December 2001 – 15 June 2002). Crew Mission parameters * Perigee: 384 km * Apogee: 396 km * Inclination: 51.6° * Period: 92 min Mission objectives The ...

crew. Additionally, he served as a backup for the ISS

Expedition 6 Expedition 6 was the sixth expedition to the International Space Station (25 November 2002 – 3 May 2003). It was the last three-man crew to reside on the station until the arrival of STS-121 in 2006, delivering the final astronaut of Expedi ...

crew and is qualified to fly as a left-seat flight engineer (co-pilot) on the Russian

Soyuz spacecraft Soyuz () is a series of spacecraft which has been in service since the 1960s, having made more than 140 flights. It was designed for the Soviet space program by the Korolev Design Bureau (now Energia). The Soyuz succeeded the Voskhod spacecraf ...

. He was the commander of the second NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations ( NEEMO 2) mission, living and working underwater for 7 days in May 2002. In 2013, Fincke served as cavenaut into the ESA CAVES training in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

, alongside

Soichi Noguchi is a Japanese aeronautical engineer and former Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA astronaut. His first spaceflight was as a mission specialist aboard STS-114 on 26 July 2005 for NASA's first "return to flight" Space Shuttle program, Spac ...

, Andreas Mogensen,

Nikolai Tikhonov Nikolai Aleksandrovich Tikhonov ( – 1 June 1997) was a Soviet Russian-Ukrainian statesman during the Cold War. He served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1980 to 1985, and as a First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, ...

, Andrew Feustel, and

David Saint-Jacques David Saint-Jacques ( , ; born 6 January 1970) is a Canadian astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). He is also an astrophysicist, engineer, and a physician. In December 2018, he launched to the International Space Station, as flight ...

Expedition 9

Fincke was the space station science officer and flight engineer for ISS

Expedition 9 Expedition 9 (2004) was the ninth expedition to the International Space Station (21 April 2004 – 23 October 2004). Crew Planned crew before ''Columbia'' disaster Mission parameters *Perigee: 384 km * Apogee: 396 km *Inclinati ...

from April 18 through October 23, 2004. Expedition 9 was launched from the

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian Human spaceflight, crewed spaceflights are l ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

aboard the

Soyuz TMA-4 Soyuz TMA-4 was a Soyuz spacecraft, Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle. It was launched on 19 April 2004 (UTC) from Baikonur Cosmodrome. Gennady Padalka from Russia, Michael Fincke from ...

spacecraft, and docked with the International Space Station on April 21, 2004. Fincke spent six months aboard the ISS continuing ISS science operations, maintaining station systems, and performing four spacewalks. Expedition 9 concluded with undocking from the station and safe landing back in Kazakhstan on October 23, 2004. Fincke completed his first mission in 187 days, 21 hours and 17 minutes, and logged a total of 15 hours, 45 minutes and 22 seconds of EVA time in four spacewalks. Fincke was the backup commander for

Expedition 13 Expedition 13 was the 13th expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), and launched at 02:30 UTC on 30 March 2006. The expedition used the Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft, which stayed at the station for the duration of the expedition for emerge ...

and

Expedition 16 Expedition 16 was the 16th List of International Space Station Expeditions, expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). The first two crew members, Yuri Malenchenko and Peggy Whitson, launched on 10 October 2007, aboard Soyuz TMA-11, an ...

Expedition 18

Fincke was commander of

Expedition 18 Expedition 18 was the 18th permanent crew of the International Space Station (ISS). The first two crew members, Michael Fincke, and Yuri Lonchakov were launched on 12 October 2008, aboard Soyuz TMA-13. With them was astronaut Sandra Magnus, who ...

. He arrived at the International Space Station aboard the

Soyuz TMA-13 Soyuz TMA-13 (, ''Union TMA-13'') was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The spacecraft was launched by a Soyuz-FG rocket at 07:01 GMT on 12 October 2008. It undocked at 02:55 GMT on 8 April 2009, performed a deorbit burn ...

on October 14, 2008 with cosmonaut

Yuri Lonchakov Yury Valentinovich Lonchakov (; born 4 March 1965) is a Russian former cosmonaut and a veteran of three space missions. He has spent 200 days in space and has conducted two spacewalks. From 2014 to 2017, Lonchakov served as head of the Yuri Gaga ...

and

space flight participant Spaceflight participant () is the term used by NASA, Roscosmos, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for people who travel into space, but are not professional astronauts. While the term gained new prominence with the rise of space touris ...

Richard Garriott Richard Allen Garriott de Cayeux (''né'' Garriott; born 4 July 1961) is a British-born American video game developer, entrepreneur and private astronaut. Garriott, who is the son of NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, was originally a game designer ...

. While Richard Garriott was aboard, Fincke participated during his personal time (along with Yury Lonchakov,

Gregory Chamitoff Gregory Errol Chamitoff (born 6 August 1962) is a Canadian-born American engineer and former NASA astronaut. He has been to space twice, spending 6 months aboard the ISS across Expedition 17 and 18 in 2008, and another 15 days as part of STS-13 ...

, and Richard Garriott) in filming and starring in a science-fiction movie made in space, '' Apogee of Fear''. On April 8, 2009, Fincke, Lonchakov, and space tourist

Charles Simonyi Charles Simonyi (; , ; born September 10, 1948) is a Hungarian Americans, Hungarian-American software architect. He introduced the graphical user interface to Bill Gates for the first time who later described it as the first of two revolutiona ...

returned to Earth aboard the TMA-13. Replacing Fincke as commander of the space station was

Gennady Padalka Gennady Ivanovich Padalka (; born 21 June 1958 in Krasnodar, Soviet Union) is a Russian Air Force officer and Roscosmos cosmonaut. Padalka is the only person to have served as commander of the International Space Station (ISS) four times. He previ ...

, whom Fincke served with on Expedition 9.

STS-134

Fincke was a

, which was his first and only flight on the

. Fincke made three spacewalks during the mission. He has completed 26 hours and 12 minutes of spacewalking time, bringing his total EVA time to 48 hours and 37 minutes. This places him 11th all time on the

list of spacewalkers This is a list of all astronauts who have engaged in an Extravehicular activity, EVA by partly or fully leaving a spacecraft, exclusive of extravehicular activity on the lunar surface. It is ordered chronologically by the date of first spacewa ...

Commercial Crew Program

Fincke has been deeply involved with NASA's Commercial Crew Program for over a decade. From 2014-2019, he served as the Astronaut Office Chief of the Commercial Crew Branch during the original Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts award. He has contributed significantly to the development of both the SpaceX Crew Dragon and Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft. In January 2019, NASA announced that Fincke would fly on

CST-100 Starliner The Boeing Starliner (or CST-100) is a spacecraft designed to transport crew to and from the International Space Station (ISS) and other low-Earth-orbit destinations. Developed by Boeing under NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP), it consists o ...

’s

Boeing Crew Flight Test Boeing Crew Flight Test (Boe-CFT) was the first crewed mission of the Boeing Starliner capsule. Launched on 5 June 2024, the mission flew a crew of two NASA astronauts, Barry E. Wilmore and Sunita Williams, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Sta ...

. However, in June 2022, NASA revised the mission to a two-person flight test with Fincke serving as the backup spacecraft test pilot. On September 30, 2022, NASA announced that Fincke would fly as the pilot on the Starliner's first operational mission, Boeing Starliner-1 (PCM-1). However, in March 2025, he was announced as the pilot of

SpaceX Crew-11 SpaceX Crew-11 is planned to be the eleventh operational NASA Commercial Crew Program flight and the 19th crewed orbital flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft. The mission will transport four crew members – NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mich ...

. Fincke has been certified as a co-pilot/flight engineer for the Soyuz, a mission specialist for the flight deck crew of the Space Shuttle, and a pilot for Starliner and Crew Dragon. His extensive work in spacecraft development included significant contributions to Starliner's development through his work in the Avionics and Software Integration Lab (ASIL), focusing on flight software refinement, systems integration, and human-spacecraft interfaces. Throughout his career, Fincke has remained at the forefront of testing and developing human-rated spacecraft, leveraging his engineering, flight test, and astronaut experience to contribute to the next era of space exploration. As of 2025, Fincke is assigned as the pilot for NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station, where he will serve as a member of

Expedition 73 Expedition 73 is the 73rd long-duration expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). The expedition began with the departure of Soyuz MS-26 on 19 April 2025 with JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through ...

/ 74. This mission is scheduled to launch in the summer of 2025.

Acting

* Fincke was a guest star on the final episode of '' Star Trek: Enterprise'' along with fellow astronaut

Terry Virts Terry Wayne Virts Jr. (born December 1, 1967) is a retired NASA astronaut, International Space Station commander, and colonel in the United States Air Force. Virts is a member of the Democratic Party. He is currently a candidate to represent Tex ...

. * He was also featured in the '' Star Trek: First Contact'' Blu-ray special features, talking about what it is like to work in space and how Star Trek influences people to believe in the magic of space travel. * Fincke appeared in ''

The Wiggles The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. As of 2022, the group members are Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, Tsehay Hawkins, Evie Ferris, John Pearce (entertainer), John Pearce, Caterina Mete ...

'' video Wiggle Around the Clock (2006), demonstrating a space suit. * Fincke voiced himself in the Season 14 ''

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

'' episode "Buster Spaces Out". * Fincke also appeared in ''Man on a Mission: Richard Garriott's Road to the Stars'', a documentary based on

's spaceflight as a fellow astronaut who launched to the ISS with him on a

Awards and decorations

* Distinguished graduate from the United States Air Force ROTC, Squadron Officer School and Test Pilot School Programs * Recipient of the United States Air Force Test Pilot School Colonel Ray Jones Award as the top Flight Test Engineer/Flight Test Navigator in class 93B * Recipient of th
Sewickley Academy
Distinguished Alumnus/a Award in 2005
/ref>

References

External links

*
NASA biography

International Space Station Tour (part 1 of 4)

Interview with The Scholars' Avenuve, IIT Kharagpur
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fincke, Edward Michael 1967 births Living people Aquanauts Commanders of the International Space Station Military personnel from Pittsburgh Space systems engineers American systems engineers United States Air Force officers University of Houston–Clear Lake alumni MIT School of Engineering alumni U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni United States Air Force astronauts Sewickley Academy alumni Space Shuttle program astronauts Spacewalkers