Chris was Commercial Astronaut on Inspiration4, the first all-civilian mission to space. Flying a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, this mission spent three days in low earth orbit, at an altitude of 590km, ushering in a new era of human spaceflight. Presently, Chris is an Avionics Engineer with Blue Origin and an Educator. Previously he was a Systems Integration and Data Analytics Specialist.

Chris “Hanks” Sembroski represented the pillar of Generosity as part of the crew of Inspiration4 by serving as Mission Specialist on a 3-day mission to orbit. He grew up with a natural curiosity about outer space. He could be found stargazing late at night from the roof of his high school and launching high-powered model rockets deep in the Florida swamps in college. As a U.S. Space Camp counselor, he conducted simulated space shuttle missions and supported STEM-based education designed to inspire young minds to explore these areas and find their passions. As a college student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Chris volunteered with ProSpace, a grassroots lobbying effort that promoted legislation in Washington, D.C., to help open up space travel and allow companies like Blue Origin and SpaceX to exist. He then served in the U.S. Air Force, maintaining a fleet of Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles and deploying for service in Iraq before leaving active duty in 2007. In his civilian career, he has sought innovative, industry-disrupting methods to monitor and maintain mechanical equipment, reduce energy consumption, and use data to drive preemptive action making everything from data centers, to hospitals, to aerospace manufacturing facilities more efficient.