RAVENNA A couple hundred people poured into Ravenna High School to hear NASA astronaut Mike Fincke speak about the upcoming solar eclipse and his space experiences. <\/p>\n
Mike was joined by his wife Renita, who is a NASA engineer who is working on figuring out how to keep astronauts healthy while in space. <\/p>\n
The Ravenna Area Vision Fund sponsored the Finckes coming to town. Mike was selected by NASA in April 1996 and has been on several space missions. According to his bio, he was first assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Station Operations Branch, serving as an International Space Station Capsule Communicator. Hes also qualified to be a co-pilot on the Russian Soyuz TM and TMA spacecraft. <\/p>\n
Mike currently serves as branch chief for the Commercial Crew Branch for NASA. He was on Expedition 9 in 2004 and Expedition 18 in 2008. He also was on the STS-134 mission in 2011. Total, he has spend 381 days, 15 hours and 11 minutes in orbit in space. <\/p>\n
Mike outlined how unique the solar eclipse on Monday is. The totality that youre going to see on Monday is extremely special, Mike said. <\/p>\n
He said hes never even seen anything like it, being in an area that is in the line of complete totality. <\/p>\n
So when you ask NASA if we can send an astronaut, we say Yes!, Mike said, crediting the eclipses uniqueness. <\/p>\n
He said not only is the eclipse unique, but its important in learning more about the sun. The more we learn about the sun, the more we can make life better on planet Earth, he said. <\/p>\n
He showed video of his space adventures, including the fun things astronauts do: floating around acting like Iron Man in the space station, splashing floating bubbles of water in their face, and letting their hair go wild in the zero gravity. <\/p>\n
It can turn these 40-year-olds into kids again, Mike said. <\/p>\n
Gina McPherson, director of the Ravenna Chamber of Commerce, was clad in a sun costume. She said having Mike and Renita in Ravenna for a big event like the eclipse was huge. The Finckes spoke on Friday to Ravenna students and rode in Saturday mornings parade. <\/p>\n
Its one thing to have a NASA astronaut here, but to have it be apart of the eclipse stuff takes it to a whole other level, McPherson said. <\/p>\n
She also said having Renita speak to the students was great because shes an engineer in a male-dominated field. McPherson said the students took to Renita and were inspired. <\/p>\n
Mike said being in space made him realize how beautiful our home planet is. He said he used to think Mars was his favorite planet until he was in orbit. He got to see the city lights, the water and land from way above. <\/p>\n
Our Earth is the most beautiful planet in the solar system, Mike said, adding that we need to take care of it and each other. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
See more here:<\/p>\n
NASA astronaut Mike Fincke talks solar eclipse - Grand Island Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" RAVENNA A couple hundred people poured into Ravenna High School to hear NASA astronaut Mike Fincke speak about the upcoming solar eclipse and his space experiences. Mike was joined by his wife Renita, who is a NASA engineer who is working on figuring out how to keep astronauts healthy while in space. The Ravenna Area Vision Fund sponsored the Finckes coming to town Continue reading