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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

Houston, Texas 77058

June 2022

E. Michael Fincke

(Colonel, U.S. Air Force, Ret.) NASA Astronaut

Summary:

E. Michael Fincke was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1996. The Pennsylvania native is the veteran of three 

spaceflights, Expedition 9 in 2004, Expedition 18 in 2009, and STS-134 in 2011. For Expedition 9, Fincke served as 

Science Officer and Flight Engineer during his six-month stay onboard the International Space Station. While there, he 

performed four spacewalks. For Expedition 18, Fincke served as Commander, where he and his crew prepared the 

station for future six-person crews. For STS-134, he served as Mission Specialist and completed three spacewalks. Col. 

Fincke has logged more than a year in orbit, with nine space walks.

After working with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program to develop and bring two new crewed spacecraft online, the 

Space-X Crew Dragon and the Boeing CST-100 Starliner, Fincke was selected to serve as the Joint Operations 

Commander on the first crewed experimental test flight of the Starliner. Riding on the Atlas V launch vehicle, this will be 

Fincke’s third rocket and spacecraft combination to orbit.

Personal Data:

Born March 14, 1967, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but considers Emsworth, Pennsylvania, to be his hometown. Married 

to the former Renita Saikia of Houston, Texas. They have three children. In addition to time with his family, Col. Fincke 

enjoys travel, geology, astronomy, learning new languages and reading. He is conversant in Japanese and Russian. His 

parents, Edward and Alma Fincke, reside in Emsworth, Pennsylvania. Renita’s parents, Rupesh and Probha Saikia, 

formerly of Assam, India, reside in Houston, Texas.

Education:

Graduated from Sewickley Academy, Sewickley, Pennsylvania, in 1985. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of 

Technology (MIT) on an Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship and graduated in 1989 with a 

Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics as well as a Bachelor of Science in Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary 

Sciences. This was followed by a Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University in 1990. 

He was awarded an Associate of Science Degree in Earth Sciences (geology) from El Camino College in Torrance, 

California, in 1993 and a second Master of Science in Physical Sciences (planetary geology) from the University of 

Houston - Clear Lake in 2001.

Experience:

Col. Fincke graduated from MIT in 1989 and immediately attended a summer exchange program with the Moscow 

Aviation Institute in the former Soviet Union where he studied cosmonautics. Upon graduation from Stanford University 

in 1990, he entered the United States Air Force where he “washed out” of the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training 

program and then was reassigned as a Space Systems Engineer and a Space Test Engineer at Los Angeles Air Force Base. 

As a Flight Test Engineer at Edwards and Eglin Air Force Bases, he flew in F-16 and F-15 aircraft. In January 1996, he 
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E. Michael Fincke

reported to the Gifu Test Center, Gifu Air Base, Japan, where he was the United States Flight Test Liaison to the 

Japanese/United States XF-2 fighter program. Col. Fincke has over 1,900 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft 

types.

NASA Experience:

Selected by NASA in April 1996, Col. Fincke reported to the Johnson Space Center where he 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 Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM), a member of the Crew Test Support Team in Russia 

and as the space station Crew Procedures Team Lead. He also served as a backup crewmember for Expeditions 4 and 6 

as well as backup commander for Expeditions 13 and 16. He is qualified to fly as a left-seat flight engineer (co-pilot) on 

the Russian Soyuz TM and TMA spacecraft. He was the commander of the second NASA Extreme Environment Mission 

Operations (NEEMO 2) mission, living and working underwater for 7 days in May of 2002, and was on the CAVES 2012 

crew, living underground and exploring for six days, sponsored by the European Space Agency in September 2012. 

Col. Fincke was previously in the Exploration Branch of the Astronaut Office where he supported NASA’s Commercial 

Crew Program and served as a space station CAPCOM. In 2015, he was named assistant to the chief for commercial 

crew in the astronaut office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. 

After working with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program to develop and bring two new crewed spacecrafts online, the 

Space-X Crew Dragon and the Boeing CST-100 Starliner, Fincke was selected to serve as the Joint Operations 

Commander on the first crewed experimental test flight of the Starliner. Riding on the Atlas V launch vehicle, this will be 

Fincke’s third rocket and spacecraft combination to orbit.

Spaceflight Experience:

Expedition 9 (April 18 to October 23, 2004). Expedition 9 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, aboard 

the Soyuz TMA-4 spacecraft. As the NASA space station Science Officer and Flight Engineer, Col. Fincke spent six months 

aboard the station, continuing science operations, maintaining station systems and performing four spacewalks. The 

Expedition 9 mission concluded with undocking from the station and safe landing back in Kazakhstan on October 23, 

2004. 

Expedition 18 (October 12, 2008 to April 8, 2009). Expedition 18 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, 

aboard the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft. As the Commander, Fincke and his three-person crew helped prepare the station 

for future six-person crews and hosted the space shuttle crews of STS-126 and STS-119. The Expedition 18 mission 

concluded with undocking from the station and safe landing back in Kazakhstan on April 8, 2009.

STS-134 (May 16 to June 1, 2011). The STS-134 mission marked the final flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour. Fincke 

served as Mission Specialist 1 on the flight deck and as one of the spacewalkers and robotic arm operators. The STS-134 

crew delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), a state-of-the-art cosmic ray particle physics detector, to the 

International Space Station.

Col. Fincke has a total of 381 days, 15 hours and 11 minutes in orbit and has logged 48 hours and 37 minutes of EVA time 

on nine spacewalks.

Awards/Honors:

In addition to two NASA Distinguished Service Medals and three NASA Spaceflight Medals, Colonel Fincke is a recipient 

of the first International Space Station Leadership Award as well as the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, 

and Meritorious Service Medals, among others for his military service. He is a Distinguished Graduate from the U.S. Air 
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E. Michael Fincke

Force ROTC, Squadron Officer School and Test Pilot School Programs and the recipient of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot 

School Col. Ray Jones Award as the Top Flight Test Engineer/Flight Test Navigator in class 93B.

Pronunciation:

E. MY-kull FEEN-k