Mike Fincke and Renita with the children at their Houston house

Guwahati, April 3: Remember US astronaut Mike Fincke — the first man to dance Bihu in space?

The son-in-law of Assam is all set to fly into space again, and this time round he will be carrying a gamocha — the traditional Assamese towel — to space, which he plans to gift to the state as a memento upon his return.

Fincke, who became the father of his third child on March 11 this year, told The Telegraph in an email that he will be the commander of the next space mission to the International Space Station. He will be blasting off from Kazakhstan in October along with Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov and millionaire space tourist Richard Garriott.

“I will take an Assamese gamocha to space and may even have time to talk to my in-laws in Assam. I love Assam and am looking forward to a successful and fun mission,” he added.

Fincke will soon be flying to Moscow for a training stint for his forthcoming space odyssey.

Like their first two children, Fincke and his wife Renita have named the new baby Surya, which is sun in Assamese. Their first son is named Chandra (moon) and the daughter is daughter is Tarali (moonlight) — all related to the heavens — Fincke and Renita’s first love. Renita — whose parents Rupesh and Probha Saikia hail from Assam — is an engineer with National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA).

“The children and I plan to travel to Russia for Mike’s launch and then return to our home in the US for the remainder of the mission until the landing. We are blessed to have my parents to help out. We have many other family members and friends coming to visit during Mike’s absence,” Renita said.

“Mike has been training hard for many months for his duty as the commander. During his mission, he will have two shuttle flights to the space station, so he will have many visitors along with the responsibilities. I am very proud of Mike and we are looking forward to a successful and fun mission,” she added.

Fincke had taken a gamocha to space during his earlier mission, which he presented to IIT Kharagpur during a visit to the elite institute in December last year. His father-in-law, Rupesh C. Saikia, had accompanied him to the institute.

“Mike gifted the Assamese hand-woven gamocha to the institute. I was later told that the gamocha would be exhibited in one of the main IIT buildings as a souvenir,” Saikia wrote in an email.

Fincke was in Kharagpur as a special guest and delivered a keynote address during the International Space and Technology conference in December.

The gamocha he will take to space this time will be presented to Assam as a symbol of his association with the state.

The astronaut had been to Assam earlier and is planning his second visit, though the time has not yet been fixed.

“Mike can speak some Assamese. And he never forgets to mention that his mother-in-law is a good teacher and that he is learning from her,” Saikia added.