U.S. Air Force Lt. Colonel
Michael Fincke is not just a professional NASA
astronaut; he also plays one on T.V.
Tonight, during the final
episode of “Star Trek: Enterprise,” Fincke
will appear as an NX-01 engineer on the show’s fictional starship. For
the now-experienced astronaut – Fincke has
flown aboard both the International Space Station (ISS) and Russia’s
Soyuz spacecraft – there are parallels between the television
show’s mantra and NASA real-life vision of space exploration.
“They show the peaceful
exploration of space, and that’s what we do here at NASA,” Fincke said of the “Star Trek: Enterprise” cast
and crew."Science fiction, in general, has inspired not just astronauts but all humans by giving form to our dreams to explore."
NASA astronaut Terry Virts also appears in the final "Star Trek: Enterprise" episode. Both he and Fincke visited the set during vacation.
"As a kid, I became interested in shows like the original Star Trek series and the first Star Trek feature movies," Virts said in a NASA interview. "They definitely had an impact in motivating me to a career with NASA."
It has been nearly seven months
since Fincke returned
to Earth after a successful six-month stay aboard the International Space
Station (ISS), where he served as Expedition 9
flight engineer and science officer alongside Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka. Since his Earthly return in October 2004,
he's split his time between the family he left behind and sharing his
experience with reporters, actors, students and fellow NASA employees.
"The nicest time is
the family time," Fincke told SPACE.com.
"There's been a lot of good father-daughter time."
Fincke's daughter Tarali
was born just before Father's Day in June 2004 while he orbited overhead and
spoke to his wife Renita via telephone. By the time
he set foot on Earth, she was about four months old. He and Renita
also have one son, Chandra.
Rookie no more
Fincke was a space rookie going into
Expedition 9, with eight years of training, four of which spent serving as a
backup crewmember for ISS-bound spaceflights. Finally reaching space was the
culmination of a personal dream for the astronaut.
"As an astronaut, I've
accomplished about everything I set out to do in my career," Fincke told SPACE.com. "But as Gennady and I
already said publicly and privately, we'd love to go again."
Fincke and Padalka
conducted four spacewalks during their mission - though one lasted mere minutes
– and performed a series of repairs to both a U.S. spacesuit
and a power unit for one of the station’s orientation gyroscopes.
Padalka spent time working with the Russian-built
Elektron oxygen generator as well.
“A lot of it was applicable to
future space exploration,” Fincke said of the
orbital repairs. “It’s great to be able to do things [first] close
at 240 miles away, as opposed to 240,000 miles away.”
While in orbit, Fincke spoke via space-to-ground link with actor Scott Bakula, who portrays the starship captain Jonathon Archer
on Star Trek: Enterprise.
“That was definitely
one of the highlights,” Fincke said. He and Padalka later received a Starfleet Award for their work
aboard the ISS.
The two Expedition 9
astronauts, along with ISS-visiting cosmonaut Yuri Shargin,
rode their Soyuz reentry vehicle down to a somewhat off-kilter landing when
high winds blew the spacecraft over on its side.
“I think our landing was a
little more solid than the average, and we caught a gust of wind,” Fincke said. “But we all landed safely and nothing
was hurt.”
Benefiting from experience
Working alongside Padalka was among the largest benefits for Fincke, who also trained with the cosmonaut for four years
as the backup crews for both Expeditions 4 and 5 to the space station.
“Gennady is an experienced
guy, and he took me under his wing so that next time, I could be the
experienced guy,” Fincke said. “He took
the extra time to show leadership, and how to be a good commander.”
Fincke said that while returning
NASA’s space shuttle to flight is imperative for the U.S. space program,
not only to regain its human spaceflight capability but also to complete the
ISS, pushing out toward the moon and beyond is the ultimate goal for the planet
as a whole.
“I’ve always believed
that humans are someday going to inherit the stars,” Fincke
said in an interview. “I think it’s in our destiny.”
“Star Trek: Enterprise”
will air at 8:00 p.m. EDT on UPN (Check local listings).
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