In August of 2009, within a few months of returning from a six-month space mission on the International Space Station, Assam's "jonwai", Astronaut Mike Fincke (married to Renita Saikia, daughter of Rupesh and Monju Saikia),was assigned to his first U.S. Space Shuttle mission, STS-134.

Mike's previous two launches were from Kazakhstan on Russian rockets, so this opportunity to launch from Florida on a U.S. space vehicle is very exciting. The primary payload for this flight is the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer 2 (AMS-02). The AMS-02 is a particle physics detector which contains a large permanent magnet. The AMS-02 unit is designed to search for antimatter and the origin and structure of dark matter. The mission will mark the final flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour and will be the final flight of the Space Shuttle program. Mike's training is very intense which includes training for a couple of spacewalks. This mission has been delayed from July 2010 to November 2010, so Mike and Renita are enjoying the extra time they are getting to spend together with their family.