Astronaut Mike Fincke joins MIT AeroAstro as Professor of the Practice
Following a 30-year career with NASA, the retired Air Force Colonel will help advance the department’s aerospace research and education mission.
Astronaut, alum, and retired Air Force Colonel E. Michael Fincke (SB ‘89) is returning home to MIT. Following his departure from NASA after a 30-year career that included four spaceflights totaling 549 days in space and nine spacewalks, Col. Fincke will officially join the faculty of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics as a full-time Professor of the Practice on September 1, 2026.
Col. Fincke will join the Human Systems Laboratory (HSL), co-directed by Prof. Dava Newman and Prof. Jeff Hoffman. He will teach and develop courses, advise undergraduate and graduate students, and contribute his considerable expertise to research and education in human spaceflight, flight software, integrated testing, system safety, and spacecraft and habitat design. He brings an operational spaceflight perspective to the department, connecting engineering design with human performance, mission operations, leadership, and decision-making in high-consequence environments.
“This opportunity is deeply meaningful to me. MIT is where my journey in aerospace began, and the chance to return home—to teach, mentor, learn, and help prepare the next generation—is both humbling and exhilarating. I cannot wait to become part of the daily life of AeroAstro and to give our students and the department my very best.”
Throughout his NASA career, Fincke has never been far from his roots at MIT AeroAstro. Whether as a space systems engineer, flight test engineer, mission specialist, spacecraft pilot, spacewalker, or International Space Station commander, he has spent his career at the forefront of developing, testing, and operating human-rated spacecraft and advancing the mission of human space exploration.
He’s also participated regularly in MIT events and offered advice and mentorship to students over the years: sharing encouragement during the early days of the Covid-19 lockdown; chatting with students from the MIT-Russia Program about learning Russian and his experiences with both American and Russian space missions; congratulating MIT on its 150th anniversary during a space mission; joining his 15th alumni reunion remotely from space; and participating in the Zero Robotics competition while aboard the space station.
“Mike Fincke is one of the most accomplished and versatile astronauts in the history of the US human spaceflight program. He has flown aboard Soyuz, the Space Shuttle, and SpaceX Dragon, and played significant roles in the development and testing of both SpaceX’s Dragon and Boeing’s Starliner,” says Olivier de Weck, Apollo Program Professor and AeroAstro’s interim department head. “He will share his insights on the differences between US and international design philosophies, integration approaches, and operating principles with our students, staff and faculty. His return to MIT as a faculty member is a game changer for our department and for the Institute.”
Engineering and experimentation, service and leadership
Col. Fincke attended MIT on an Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship, and graduated in 1989 with dual bachelor’s degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics and in Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. After spending a summer in the Soviet Union as part of a Course 16 exchange program with the Moscow Aviation Institute, he went on to earn a master’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University in 1990.
He then entered the United States Air Force, serving as a space systems engineer and space test engineer. He later graduated as a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and served as a flight test engineer at Edwards and Eglin Air Force Bases and at Gifu Air Base in Japan, logging more than 2,000 flight hours in over 30 different aircraft types.
NASA selected Fincke for the astronaut corps in 1996. His first spaceflight was in 2004 on Expedition 9, where he served on the International Space Station as Science Officer and Flight Engineer for six months and performed four spacewalks. He then served as space station commander for Expedition 18 in 2008-09, and in 2011 he served as Mission Specialist, spacewalker and robotic arm operator for STS-134, the final flight of the space shuttle Endeavour. The crew delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station, and Fincke completed a further three spacewalks.
Col. Fincke’s fourth and final NASA spaceflight began on August 1, 2025, when he launched as pilot of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission. He served as flight engineer for Expedition 73,, and as commander for Expedition 74 before handing over space station command to Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov. Fincke ranks fourth among NASA astronauts’ accumulated time in space, and has totaled 48 hours and 37 minutes of spacewalk time across his nine spacewalks.
Between spaceflights, Col. Fincke was heavily involved in NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, developing both the Boeing Starliner and SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and serving as the Astronaut Office Chief of the Commercial Crew Branch from 2014-2019. He also contributed significantly to Starliner’s development through his work in the Avionics and Software Integration Lab, focusing on flight software refinement, systems integration, and human spaceflight interfaces.
Among his many awards and honors, Col. Fincke has received four NASA Distinguished Service Medals, the highest honor bestowed by NASA: three for his long-duration missions aboard the space station, and the fourth in recognition of his five years of service on the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test crew and his exceptional contributions to human spaceflight development and flight test operations. Additional NASA recognitions include four NASA Spaceflight Medals and the first International Space Station Leadership Award. His military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, and multiple Meritorious Service Medals.
“NASA and MIT share a belief that knowledge carries a responsibility to serve,” Fincke says. “This is an extraordinary moment in aerospace, with difficult engineering challenges ahead and remarkable possibilities within reach. I believe deeply in humanity’s future—that we will return to the Moon, travel to Mars, explore farther across our solar system, and someday reach for the stars. Our descendants will learn to live in places that today seem impossibly hostile. But reaching outward does not lessen our obligation to Earth; it strengthens it. The more we explore, the more clearly we understand how extraordinary our home planet is. I look forward to working alongside our students and faculty: to learn together, to build and test boldly, and to help prepare the teams who will carry human exploration forward while caring for the most beautiful planet in our solar system.”
