USA

Michael Fincke

(Edward Michael "Mike" Fincke)

(Mar 14, 1967)

Astronaut 432

Astronaut of the USA 272

EVA astronaut 150

EVA astronaut of the USA 96

Spaceflights 4

EVAs 9

Spaceflights

EVAs

On Wednesday (August 12, 2026), NASA astronaut Mike Fincke left the agency after 30 years of service. During his career, he participated in four spaceflights, spent 549 days in space, and performed nine spacewalks to support operations on the International Space Station.

He ranks fourth among NASA astronauts in terms of cumulative time spent in space, and his total spacewalk duration is 48 hours and 37 minutes. Most recently, Fincke served as pilot for the NASA-SpaceX Crew-11 mission, which launched in August 2025 and concluded in January 2026. During this mission, he served as a flight engineer for Expedition 73 and commander of Expedition 74 on the International Space Station.

The flight was cut short because Fincke required a medical evacuation from the ISS.

Initially, NASA did not disclose the name of the crew member who experienced the medical emergency, but Fincke later told the Associated Press about a strange incident that occurred during dinner on January 7: he suddenly lost the ability to speak for about 20 minutes.

“It came out of the blue. It happened incredibly fast,” Fincke said in an AP interview published on March 7. “The crew realized immediately that something was wrong. Literally within seconds, everyone was ready to provide assistance.”

Neither Fincke nor NASA disclosed details of the incident, citing medical confidentiality.

Fink was one of the 44 astronauts selected in 1996 as part of the 16th class, which was unofficially nicknamed the "Sardines." He flew four space missions: twice on the Soyuz spacecraft, and once each on the Space Shuttle Endeavour and the SpaceX spacecraft Dragon Endeavour. He flew his first space mission in 2004 aboard the Soyuz TMA-4 spacecraft as part of ISS Expedition 9. Serving as a science officer and flight engineer, he maintained station systems and performed four spacewalks. In 2008, he returned to orbit aboard Soyuz TMA-13 ​​as commander of ISS Expedition 18; During this period, he prepared the station for the transition to a six-person crew and performed two additional spacewalks.

In 2011, Fincke participated in mission STS-134—the final flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Serving as a mission specialist and robotic arm operator, he conducted three spacewalks and participated in the delivery and installation of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.

A native of Emsworth, Pennsylvania, Fincke earned bachelor's degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics and in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; during his studies, he also interned in the USSR as part of an exchange program with the Moscow Aviation Institute. Additionally, he holds master's degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics (Stanford University) and Planetary Geology (University of Houston–Clear Lake).

Fincke is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. He served as a space systems engineer and flight test engineer at Edwards and Eglin Air Force Bases, and later as the U.S. flight test representative for the joint U.S.-Japan XF-2 fighter development program at Gifu Air Base in Japan. He has logged over 2,000 hours of flight time in more than 30 different types of aircraft.