{"id":17391,"date":"2022-04-26T00:26:13","date_gmt":"2022-04-25T16:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/after-blazing-a-trail-in-orbit-data-engineer-chris-sembroskis-adventures-just-keep-coming\/"},"modified":"2022-04-26T00:26:13","modified_gmt":"2022-04-25T16:26:13","slug":"after-blazing-a-trail-in-orbit-data-engineer-chris-sembroskis-adventures-just-keep-coming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/after-blazing-a-trail-in-orbit-data-engineer-chris-sembroskis-adventures-just-keep-coming\/","title":{"rendered":"After blazing a trail in orbit, data engineer Chris Sembroski\u2019s adventures just keep coming"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Chris Sembroski was one of four citizen astronauts on the Inspiration4 mission. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

KIRKLAND, Wash. \u2014 It\u2019s been seven months since Chris Sembroski splashed down at the end of the world\u2019s first all-civilian orbital space mission, but his drive to seek out new frontiers is still going strong.<\/p>\n

The 42-year-old data engineer from Everett, Wash., won his spot on last September\u2019s philanthropic Inspiration4 space trip thanks to a friend of his who won a lottery, but weighed too much to take advantage of the prize.<\/p>\n

For months, Sembroski took time off from his day job at Lockheed Martin to train with his three crewmates: Jared Isaacman, the billionaire tech CEO who organized and paid for the mission; Hayley Arceneaux, a cancer survivor who now works for St. Jude Children\u2019s Research Hospital; and Sian Proctor, a geology professor who parlayed her talents in art and business to win a \u201cShark Tank\u201d-style contest.<\/p>\n

Their training included a Mount Rainier climb, zero-G and high-G airplane rides, and hours upon hours of instruction from SpaceX. It all came to a climax with the foursome\u2019s launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, followed by three days of experiments and outreach activities that raised more than $240 million for St. Jude.<\/p>\n

A follow-up series of space missions, known as the Polaris Program, is expected to blaze more new trails for citizen astronauts \u2014 and generate even more contributions for cancer research.<\/p>\n

Sembroski, meanwhile, is starting a new job as a data analytics engineer at DB Engineering in Redmond, Wash. In an interview with GeekWire, conducted last week during a space industry social event at SigmaDesign\u2019s Kirkland office, Sembroski talked about how he found out he was getting a free trip to orbit, what he experienced during the mission, and what he expects from his next adventure.<\/p>\n

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sembroski:<\/strong> \u201cAbout 13 months ago, I had a very interesting Zoom call.\u201d<\/p>\n

GeekWire: That must have been one of the most memorable days of your life.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I keep replaying that one over and over again. I\u2019m trying to figure out how I\u2019m going to talk to Jared, preparing for my space interview, thinking that I\u2019m still a part of a large pool of candidates. And then my friend Kyle [Hippchen] shows up on the call, too. And so now I\u2019m thinking that I\u2019m competing with him for this within this large pool of candidates. Like, do I throw him under the bus? But I absolutely do not. I chime in and say, \u2018I\u2019m surprised to see my friend Kyle here. We live in opposite corners of the country. It\u2019s really great to see him. I haven\u2019t talked to him a long time \u2026 how you doing?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThen Jared said, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s awesome. I\u2019d like to hear more about that later, but, uh, we\u2019re here to talk about Inspiration4.\u2019 Finding out that I was given a trip to orbit \u2014 not just an up-and-down ride \u2014 I\u2019m just sitting there in shock. When they told me, Kidd [Scott \u201cKidd\u201d Poteet, one of Inspiration4\u2019s mission directors] said he thought the internet connection had dropped, because I was just like, \u2018Really??\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we had all these PowerPoint slides to go through. I\u2019m like, \u2018Sure, I\u2019ll answer this question\u2026 What are my greatest fears?\u2019 I don\u2019t really understand which part of me is talking at the moment. After a few minutes, I realized I had to go and talk to my wife about this, and I explained it to her. So that was a very emotional, up-and-down, left-to-right sideways kind of day, trying to absorb that. And it\u2019s continued the whole year, trying to take everything in. You process the experience over and over.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Chris Sembroski, Hayley Arceneaux (above) and Sian Proctor (below) are all smiles with a view of Earth visible through the Crew Dragon\u2019s cupola window above their heads. (Inspiration4 Photo \/ Jared Isaacman) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What do you tell people about the experience of going to space?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt depends on the audience. This morning, I was talking to my daughter\u2019s preschool, just about who wants to be an astronaut, and what it\u2019s like to go to space. But when I\u2019m talking to other people, it\u2019s about trying to share with them the impact it had on me, and what I take away from the experience. It may sound a little repetitive to keep talking about the Overview Effect, but it really does have an impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s that vantage point of looking back at Earth that makes you realize we are on a planet with finite resources. While we\u2019re sitting here on Earth, we may feel like the world\u2019s our oyster, and that we have so many things we could take advantage of. But you get far enough away, and you can see the barrier between the vacuum of space and that thin layer of breathable air.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeyond that, I feel as if we set out to accomplish an incredible mission in space using all civilians who were brought together from all backgrounds, to show that space is open for everyone. You do not have to be at the top of the class to enjoy the experience and be successful in space. At the same time, you have to do it with a purpose \u2014 saying that, yes, we are in space, but we have a huge duty to give back and do something great on Earth at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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