The Accidental Astronaut

Christopher Sembroski is an American data engineer, Air Force veteran, and commercial astronaut. He flew to orbit on Inspiration4, a private spaceflight funded by billionaire Jared Isaacman.

Sembroski has long had an interest in space, being an amateur astronomer and rocketeer. Sembroski received the call sign “Hanks” during training. He is featured on the cover of a Time magazine double issue with the rest of the crew of Inspiration4 in August 2021.

Sembroski grew up in Kannapolis, North Carolina. During college, Sembroski volunteered for ProSpace, a nonprofit organization advocating for private spaceflight. Sembroski also was a counselor at Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama which promotes science, technology, engineering, and math to children and teenagers. After college, Sembroski joined the United States Air Force as an Electro-Mechanical Technician stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, MT. Sembroski worked as a data engineer for Lockheed Martin. He has since moved to work as an avionics engineer at Blue Origin.

He is a member of the Association of Space Explorers.