Fincke attended MIT on an Air Force ROTC scholarship and graduated with a B.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics as well as a B.S. in Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences in 1989. After graduation, Fincke attended a summer exchange program with the Moscow Aviation Institute, where he studied Cosmonautics. He then entered the Air Force, where he served as a space systems engineer and a space test engineer. NASA selected Fincke in April 1996. He was a backup crewmember for ISS Expeditions 4 and 6. He blasted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 18, 2004, in a Soyuz rocket for ISS Expedition 9. Fincke received two USAF Commendation Medals, and a USAF Achievement Medal. He also earned an M.S. from Stanford University in Aeronautics and Astronautics and a second M.S. in Planetary Geology from the University of Houston.