Kyle Hipchen: Florida-based airline captain gifts first space trip to college friend

Kyle Hippchen, a Florida-based airline captain was the real winner of the first-of-its-kind tour to space in the SpaceX Dragon capsule that blasted off for orbit last year. The 43-year-old captain for Delta's regional carrier Endeavour Air gifted his once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience the orbit to his friend and roommate from college Chirs Sembroski after the former exceeded the weight restrictions stipulated by SpaceX. He spoke about his out-of-the-blue dream and the subsequent turn out of the events with the AP.

Hippchen was on his first trip to Kennedy Space Centre recently, when he spoke to the news agency. "It hurts too much. I am insanely disappointed. But it is what it is," Kyle Hipchen told AP. When he won the sweepstakes, Hippchen weighed over 250 pounds (113 kilograms), which was the set limit for flight participants in the SpaceX Dragon Capsule. "It was their show, I didn't want to be distracting too much from what they were doing," he said, expressing regret for the fact that nearly four months after the launch only 50 people knew he was the actual winner.

[Kyle Hipchen. Image: AP]

Hippchen offers trip to space to his college buddy

Kyle's seat was offered to Chris Sembroski, a 42-year-old data engineer in Everett, Washington. Kyle and Chris had been college-time buddies and roommates in 1990 while attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The space enthusiasts chipped in to purchase $650 worth of entries. In February, Hipchen learned that he had won the contest after he started receiving emails seeking details about him. While physically, SpaceX demanded 6-foot-6 and within 250 pounds, Hipchen was 5-foot-10 and weighed around 330 pounds.

“I was trying to figure how I could drop 80 pounds in six months, which, I mean, it’s possible, but it’s not the most healthy thing in the world to do,” Hippchen said.

[From left Chris Sembroski, Sian Proctor, Jared Isaacman and Hayley Arceneaux sit in the Dragon capsule at Cape Canaveral in Florida on Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021. IMAGE: AP]

Thus, Kyle offered his seat to his longtime pal Chris. The step was lauded by Shift4 Payments founded and CEO Jared Issacman, who raffled off a seat on the flight he purchased from Elon Musk. "Kyle's willingness to gift his seat to Chris was an incredible act of generosity," Isaacman said. Before boarding the flight, Sembroski honoured Kyle by making the last call before taking off for his lucky trip to space.

Image: AP