Mike Fincke meets his family after returning from space

Guwahati, Nov. 9: After six months aboard the international space station Alpha, US astronaut and ?Assam?s son-in-law? Mike Fincke is back on earth and restless to resume a normal life with his family, which has grown by one very important member since he took off for space.

Married to Assamese NRI Renita Saikia, Fincke became popular among his wife?s community in the US and elsewhere by doing a Bihu jig in space. The moment was beamed live by NASA to the annual convention of the Assam Association of North America.

On touching terra firma a few days ago, Fincke had eyes only for four-month-old Tarali Paulina. Hugging her, he said: ?My name is daddy.?

Recalling the poignant scene, the astronaut?s mother-in-law Probha Saikia wrote in an e-mail to The Telegraph that the homecoming could not have been better.

?Tarali (starlight in Assamese) blew her first kiss to her father,? she said.

?We were surprised to see him walking to our cottage to visit his family, escorted by two doctors, on the very second day (after landing). Mike is happy to be with his family,? Probha wrote, replying to a set of e-mailed questions on Fincke?s behalf.

She said one of the few things Fincke had brought back from space was the Assamese gamocha that draped his shoulders when he performed the Bihu dance.

She quoted her son-in-law as saying that he had ?fantastic views? of the Brahmaputra as the space station circled the earth every 90 minutes.

In an exclusive interview to this correspondent before his departure ahead of Bohag Bihu, Fincke had said: ?When I fly over India, I will look for the mighty Brahmaputra river to guide my heart to Assam.?

Fincke returned to earth along with Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka on October 24, and both are still undergoing rehabilitation, debriefings and medical tests in Russia?s Star City.

The Soyuz capsule carrying Fincke and Padalka landed on the steppes of Kazaksthan. Star City is a moniker for the Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Centre near Moscow.

Tarali was born on June 18, when Fincke was busy conducting experiments in space. The astronaut and his wife also have a three-year-old son named Chandra, Assamese for moon.