Edward Michael “Mike” Fincke was born on March 14th, 1967, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He earned two Bachelor of Science degrees in aeronautics & astronautics and Earth, atmospheric & planetary sciences from MIT in 1989, followed by a Master of Science in aeronautics & astronautics from Stanford University in 1990, and another Master of Science in planetary geology from the University of Houston–Clear Lake in 2001. Selected by NASA as part of Astronaut Group 16 in April 1996, he completed astronaut candidate training and became qualified as both a mission specialist for the Space Shuttle and a flight engineer for the Soyuz spacecraft. Fincke’s first spaceflight was aboard Soyuz TMA‑4 from April to October 2004.

He then flew aboard Soyuz TMA‑13 from October 2008 to April 2009, preparing the ISS for future six-person crews. His third space mission was STS‑134 in May 2011 aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour, where he conducted three spacewalks and helped deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the station. Over his career, Fincke has logged 381 days, 15 hours, and 11 minutes in space, including nine EVAs and extensive work on station systems and assembly. He is now assigned as pilot for the upcoming SpaceX Crew‑11 mission after being reassigned from the doomed Starliner.