Mike Fincke, a NASA astronaut, is departing the agency Wednesday after 30 years of service. During his career, he completed four spaceflights, accumulated 549 days in space, and performed nine spacewalks in support of the International Space Station.
Fincke ranks fourth among NASA astronauts in total time in space. His spacewalks totaled 48 hours and 37 minutes. Most recently, he piloted NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 mission, which launched in August 2025 and returned in January, serving as a flight engineer for International Space Station Expedition 73 and commander of Expedition 74.
Fincke joined NASA's 16th astronaut class in 1996 and first flew to space in 2004 aboard Soyuz TMA-4 in support of Expedition 9. In 2008, he commanded Expedition 18 aboard Soyuz TMA-13, and in 2011 he flew on STS-134, the final flight of space shuttle Endeavour, as mission specialist and robotic arm operator. Throughout his career, he helped test and integrate space station modules, served as chief of the Astronaut Office's Commercial Crew Branch, and supported station operations from the ground as a capsule communicator and crew procedures team lead.
A native of Emsworth, Pennsylvania, Fincke holds bachelor's degrees in aeronautics and astronautics and in Earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as master's degrees in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University and in planetary geology from the University of Houston, Clear Lake. He is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, with more than 2,000 flight hours in more than 30 aircraft types.
