A Florida man who won a seat on the first space tourism flight operated by Elon Musk and SpaceX gave his ticket to a friend, because he was too heavy for blast-off.
Kyle Hippchen, 43 and a Florida-based captain for Delta’s regional carrier, Endeavor Air, won a ticket to be on the SpaceX flight last September.
However, he soon discovered that he exceeded SpaceX’s 250lb weight limit. As a result, he gave his ticket to his college roommate, Chris Sembroski, a 42-year-old data engineer from Everett, Washington.
While attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical College, Hippchen and Sembroski were involved in a space advocacy group that went to Washington to promote space travel. They also attended Nasa shuttle launches.
Last year, Jared Isaacman, the founder of Shift4 Payments, raffled off a seat on the first SpaceX flight to carry tourists.
Hippchen bought $600 worth of entries while Sembroski paid more than $50. There were more than 72,000 entries in the draw, which was made last February, with the proceeds going to a hospital for children.
According to the contest’s small print, the winter had to be under 6ft 6in and 250lb. Hippchen was 5ft 10in and 330lb.
When he started receiving emails seeking personal details including weight and height, he assumed he was one of many finalists. It was only after a series of emails and calls that he learned he had actually won the seat.
“I was trying to figure out how I could drop 80lb in six months, which, I mean, it’s possible but it’s not the most healthy thing in the world to do,” Hippchen said.
He decided to give his ticket to Sembroski, who, in gratitude, offered to take personal items into space for Hippchen. The items included his high school and college rings, his airline captain epaulets and a great-uncle’s first world war Purple Heart.
Before entering SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, Sembroski used a phone at the top of the launch tower to make an allotted call. He called Hippchen, and told him he was forever grateful.
