Colonel Edward Michael Fincke of the US Air Force has the average height of an Indian, unlike most of the Americans. But, he has very high ambitions, unlike most of the Indians. And this made him an astronaut, who has so far visited the International Space Station (ISS) twice, spending in the space about one year of his life. He went to ISS for the first time as the Expedition-9 flight engineer on April 19, 2004 for a period of six months and five days. Then he made his second voyage to the space station as commander of the Expedition-18 on October 12, 2008 for a period of five months 26 days.

He has undertaken six space walks for a total duration of 26 hours and 12 minutes. For a human being this is a considerably big feat. He has now been chosen for the third voyage to the ISS by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of USA as a mission specialist. This voyage will start in the autumn next year and last for two weeks.

Michael Fincke is now busy exchanging his experiences as an astronaut with the students and teachers of the Northeast India, being a de juro son-in-law of the region since he has married an Assamese girl. This he is doing as part of a mission to create a congenial atmosphere for drawing more and more young people of the region towards science and technology. The India chapter of the voluntary organization Friends of Assam and Seven Sisters (FASS) has joined hands with the astronaut in this mission by organizing the interactive sessions.

Popular as Mike among his near and dear ones, Michael Fincke said the ISS is the product of the humanity’s dreams to explore the space. Thus, it has become evident that he has also become instrumental in translating those dreams. He said earlier humanity knew how to visit space; now with the ISS, it has become possible for mankind to live in the space. So far, fifteen countries have been working together, specially the US and Russia, to make the ISS possible and they are undertaking various research works in the space station.

The research works undertaken by these countries in the ISS have helped many achievements in the field of physics and biology. It has now become possible for the scientist to understand the behaviour of some fluids in zero gravity. Again, scientists have also come to know as to how the human body adapts to the space environment.

Out of the window of the space station, Mike said, the astronauts and scientists aboard it could see our planet. It looks amazingly beautiful from the space. It radiates innumerable colours. But how it becomes possible for those aboard the ISS to locate the places on the Earth? He said since the Earth moves anti-clockwise below the space station, the people inside the ISS can see the entire of the Earth’s surface and can identify the areas. Their trainings and efforts at familiarizing themselves with the locations by constantly gazing at them, also help in identifying the areas.

As there is no air and atmosphere, the astronauts who undertake the space walks attain the same speed along with the space station, which moves at a speed of around 26,000 km per hour, he said. On his feelings during the space walks, he said at first he had to concentrate on the works assigned to him and after a while when he became comfortable, he could look around to see the entire universe. The enormous size of the universe caused a feeling of wonder and amazement in him.

The space walks are undertaken to repair the ISS, to assemble its parts, to survey the exterior condition, etc and the astronauts are to cling to the space station with their specified space attires and carry out their assigned jobs.

Every 45 minutes, the people aboard the space station confront darkness and daylight alternately. This is due to the speed of the space station which makes it move round the Earth in every 90 minutes. So in a day, as it is counted on the Earth, the astronauts and scientists aboard the ISS face 16 nights and 16 days, Mike said.

The ISS is the largest and the most complex international scientific project in human history. It is assembled in the outer space. On-orbit construction of the station began in 1998 and is scheduled to be completed by 2011, with operations continuing until at least 2015. The ISS orbits at an altitude of approximately 350 kilometres above the surface of the Earth. It can be seen from the earth with the naked eye in the clear night sky.

The ISS is a joint project among the space agencies of the United States (NASA), Russia (RKA), Japan (JAXA), Canada (CSA) and ten European nations (ESA). Brazil (AEB) has participated in the project through a separate contract with NASA. Similarly, Italy (ASI) has separate contracts for various activities not done within the framework of ESA’s ISS projects.

The NASA has said in its website that till date, 89 scientific investigations have been conducted on space station and more breakthroughs are to come. New results from early space station research, from basic science to exploration research, are being published each month.

For instance, there have been great strides made in understanding the significant rate of bone loss by crew members while in orbit, and where in the bones the loss is occurring. Also, a complete characterization study of the radiation environment in the space station has been done, with evaluation of models of radiation shielding by the station’s structure, states the NASA website.

Mike told the members of several gatherings in Guwahati that the dreams to play this role dominated his childhood. But, his family was not capable to help him materialize this dream. However, sheer determination and support from the fellow people made him rise to the present stature. Still, the dream to go to the space for infinite times is haunting him.

The preparations for the space trips are rigorous and it takes for a beginner about three to four years of arduous works in many countries. One needs to be physically fit and should understand the spaceships and the scientific experiments being undertaken in the space station, he said.

Born on March 14, 1967 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Mike is a bachelor of science in aeronautics and astronautics as well as earth, atmospheric and planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a master of science in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University and a master of science in physical sciences (planetary geology) from the University of Houston, Clear Lake.

He is a recipient of two NASA Distinguished Service Medals and two NASA Spaceflight Medals, besides being the first 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. 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, Mike has over 825 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft.

He would spend two weeks in the space during his third voyage to the ISS. During his stay, he said, the astronauts and scientists would carry out a large physics experiment and put it outside the space station.

He advises the young people of the region to have big dreams and to continue working on them without bothering about the hurdles. Thus, he says, one day hard work would help them translate their dreams into reality.

He feels honoured when he is called a jowai by the people here and it also makes him aware of his responsibilities towards the people of the region. Back on the Earth from the space, Mike loves to relish the pure Assamese culinary like khar, masor bilahi tengar anja, and the delicacies like til-pitha, etc.

Ajit Patowary