INPERSON
Of Planets
and Pittsburgh
Astronaut Mike Fincke relishes life in space.
By Jennifer Brozak
I
n the early 1970s, the magic of space flight
had captivated American audiences. Families
would gather around their TVs to watch
grainy images of rockets taking off and of
astronauts bouncing around on the surface of
the moon.
Emsworth native Mike Fincke was still a
toddler when he first saw a black-and-white
broadcast of a man walking on the moon. From
that moment on, he knew he wanted to be an
astronaut.
“I was one of those little kids who knew
exactly what he wanted to be,” says Fincke, a
1985 graduate of Sewickley Academy.
Several decades later, Fincke, 49, would
realize his dream, but his path to life in orbit