- He made an appearance as Lieutenant M. Fincke in the last episode of "Star Trek: Enterprise": Season 4, Episode 22: "These Are the Voyages..." Fincke received credit as a Hologram Engineer in the end credits. His colleague, Terry Virts, was invited to appear as well. While in space and orbiting Earth, he was able to chat with Scott Bakula via space-to-ground link and was later awarded with a "Starfleet Award" (actually a trophy-size replica of the Starfleet emblem) for his work on board the ISS.
- In June 2004, their younger child, as Renita told the Calcutta Telegraph newspaper, "Tarali was born and made history! She is the first baby to be born to an astronaut while he was in space! Much excitement surrounded the birth. There was a full NASA team in place with the logistics of having the baby - from security to making sure Mike was involved in the birth. As I was in the delivery room having the baby, I spoke to Mike on my cellular telephone. Mike heard Tarali's first cries and was even able to see her with the NASA-provided video-conferencing equipment!".
- Selected by NASA in April 1996, Colonel Fincke completed two years of training at the Johnson Space Center. He was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Station Operations Branch, serving as an International Space Station Spacecraft Communicator and as the ISS crew procedures team leader. He also served as back-up crew member for ISS Expeditions 4 and 6 as well as back-up commander for ISS Expeditions 13 and 16.
- Fincke has a total of 365 days, 21 hours and 32 minutes in space, and has logged a total of 26 hours and 12 minutes of EVA time on six spacewalks.
- Their oldest child, Chandra, learned to speak Assamese and could count in Assamese and in several other languages at the age of 3. His younger sister is Tarali Paulina Fincke.
- This busy NASA astronaut graduated from Sewickley Academy in Pennsylvania in 1985. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 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 associates of science degree in Earth Sciences (Geology) from El Camino College in Torrance, California in 1993 and then a second Master of Science in Physical Sciences (Planetary Geology) from the University of Houston in 2001.
- His professional honors include two NASA Distinguished Service Medals and two NASA Spaceflight Medals; Colonel Fincke is also a recipient of the first ISS Leadership Award as well as a United States Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, three Commendation Medals, two Achievement Medals, and various unit and service awards. He is a Distinguished Graduate from the United States Air Force ROTC, Squadron Officer School, and Test Pilot School Programs and the recipient of the United States Air Force Test Pilot School Colonel Ray Jones Award as the top Flight Test Engineer/Flight Test Navigator in class 93B.
- After graduating from MIT in 1989, Fincke attended a summer exchange program with the Moscow Aviation Institute in the former Soviet Union, where he studied Cosmonautics. He is conversant in Russian as well as Japanese - in 1996, he 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.
- During these earlier programs, Colonel Fincke flew over 825 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft types.
- He served as a member of the Crew Test Support Team in Russia and was 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 mission, living and working underwater for 7 days in May of 2002.
- During the ISS (International Space Station) Expedition 9 (April 18 to Oct 23, 2004), the crew launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard the Soyuz TMA-4 spacecraft. As the NASA Space Station science officer and flight engineer, Colonel Fincke spent six months aboard the ISS: continuing science operations, maintaining Station systems, and performing four spacewalks.
- His wife Renita's parents, Rupesh and Probha Saikia (formerly of Assam, India) reside in Houston, Texas.
- Fincke was the first astronaut to learn he had become a father while he was still in space.
- Colonel Michael Fincke fell in love with Assam, India, on his first visit there. While in space, in 2004, he took hundreds of pictures of the North East and the river Brahmaputra from space for himself, his wife, and her family.
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