Meet NASA Astronaut Mike Fincke, Crew-11 Pilot

NASA astronaut Mike Fincke is the pilot of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission. This is his fourth spaceflight. The Pennsylvania native also traveled to space as part of Expedition 9 in 2004, Expedition 18 in 2009, and STS-134 in 2011. He was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1996. Upon his arrival to the International Space Station with Crew-11, he became an Expedition 73 flight engineer and began a long-duration science expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory.

For Expedition 9, Fincke served as Science Officer and Flight Engineer during his six-month stay aboard the space station. While there, he performed four spacewalks. For Expedition 18, Fincke served as station 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 spacewalks totaling 48 hours and 37 minutes of spacewalking time. In addition to his time in space, Fincke also played a crucial role in Boeing’s Crew Flight Test (CFT) program. He served as backup pilot for the CFT mission and prime pilot for the Starliner-1 mission, contributing significantly to Starliner’s development through his work in the Avionics and Software Integration Lab (ASIL), focusing on flight software refinement, systems integration, and human-spaceflight interfaces.