Michael Fincke
Mike Fincke | |
|---|---|
Fincke in 2025 | |
| Born | Edward Michael Fincke March 14, 1967 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Other names | Spanky |
| Education | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS) Stanford University (MS) El Camino College (AS) University of Houston (MS) |
| Spouse | Renita Saikia |
| Children | 3 |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
| Rank | Colonel, USAF (ret.) |
Time in space | 548 days, 8 hours and 8 minutes |
| Selection | NASA Group 16 (1996) |
Total EVAs | 9 |
Total EVA time | 48h 37m |
| Missions | |
Mission insignia | |
Edward Michael Fincke (born March 14, 1967) is an American astronaut and retired United States Air Force colonel. He is fourth among the NASA astronauts who spent the most time in space with 549 days. 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 has been certified as a pilot for both Boeing Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon, as well as a co-pilot/flight engineer on the Soyuz and a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle.
Fincke was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania but considers its suburb Emsworth to be his hometown. He is a retired United States Air Force officer and an active NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of three long-duration missions aboard the International Space Station as a flight engineer on Expedition 9, as commander of Expedition 18, and as a flight engineer on Expedition 73 and commander of Expedition 74, as well as one Space Shuttle mission, STS-134, as a mission specialist.