NASA astronaut Fincke to visit Assam from Sep 2

It will be the first visit by any such international astronaut to the state. ''Colonel Fincke will be felicitated by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on September two at Guwahati, and he shall be accorded state guest honour during the visit,'' Friends of Assam and Seven Sisters (FASS), the organisation managing his trip, general secretary (Assam chapter) Bidyananda Borkakoty said here today. The NASA astronaut, who is married to an Assamese fellow engineer Renita Saikia, had visited the state earlier also and was impressed by its scenic beauty and natural grandeur, Mr Borkotoky said, adding Colonel Fincke was enthusiastic about visiting his in-laws' native place again. He had also taken pictures of north-east and the mighty Brahmaputra from the space during his first mission in 2004. During his second space mission in 2008-09, he had carried a 'Gamocha' (Assamese towel) to space, held live talks with students of several institutions of NE and even danced 'Bihu' at the zero-gravity environment. Astronaut Fincke is a Colonel in the US Air Force and a veteran of two long-duration missions aboard the International Space Station (ISS). He served as the NASA science officer and flight engineer on Expedition 9 and spent six months (April 18 to October 23, 2004) aboard the ISS. He was the Commander for Expedition 18 and spent six months (October 12, 2008 to April 8, 2009) aboard the ISS. Colonel Fincke has a total of 365 days, 21 hours and 32 minutes in space, and logged a total of 26 hours and 12 minutes of EVA time on six spacewalks. Fincke has been selected by NASA to go to space again for the third time in 2010 and this time he will go as a mission specialist.

-- (UNI) -- 31CA18.xml

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