{
  "id": 805972,
  "title": "NASA astronaut Mike Fincke retires after 30 years at the space agency",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/13/nasa-astronaut-mike-fincke-retires-after-30-years-at-the-space-agency",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-13T21:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Space.com",
    "slug": "space-com",
    "url": "https://www.space.com/space-exploration/human-spaceflight/nasa-astronaut-mike-fincke-retires-after-30-years-at-the-space-agency"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "NASA astronaut Mike Fincke has announced his retirement after a remarkable 30-year career with the space agency. Fincke, who now holds the distinction of being NASA's fourth-most flown astronaut with a cumulative 549 days in space across four separate spaceflights, has made significant contributions to spaceflight. He has performed nine spacewalks, served twice as commander of the International Space Station, and most recently commanded Expedition 74 from August 2025 to January 2026. Fincke's illustrious career includes stints as a U.S. Air Force Test Pilot, a space systems engineer, and a flight test engineer. He was also the chief of the Astronaut Office’s Commercial Crew Branch before retiring.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}