Michael Fincke
Mike Fincke | |
|---|---|
Fincke in 2019 | |
| 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 | 381d 15h 11m |
| Selection | NASA Group 16 (1996) |
Total EVAs | 9 |
Total EVA time | 48h 37m |
| Missions | |
Mission insignia | |
Edward Michael "Mike" Fincke (born March 14, 1967) is an American astronaut and retired United States Air Force colonel. 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 and SpaceX Crew Dragon, as well as a co-pilot/flight engineer on the Soyuz and a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle.
Mike 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. So far, he served two tours aboard the International Space Station as a flight engineer and commander. He flew on one Space Shuttle mission, STS-134, as a mission specialist. Fincke is conversant in Japanese and Russian. 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.