A capsule carrying four people parachutes into the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast Saturday. The all-amateur crew was the first to circle the world without a professional astronaut. (SpaceX via AP)

A capsule carrying four people parachutes into the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast Saturday. The all-amateur crew was the first to circle the world without a professional astronaut. (SpaceX via AP)

Everett man returns safely to Earth after 3-day space orbit

The 4-person, all-amateur crew was the first to circle the world without a professional astronaut.

By Marcia Dunn / Associated Press

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Four space tourists, including a man from Everett, safely ended their trailblazing trip to orbit Saturday with a splashdown in the Atlantic off the Florida coast.

Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the ocean just before sunset, not far from where their chartered flight began three days earlier.

The all-amateur crew was the first to circle the world without a professional astronaut.

The billionaire who paid undisclosed millions for the trip and his three guests wanted to show that ordinary people could blast into orbit by themselves, and SpaceX founder Elon Musk took them on as the company’s first rocket-riding tourists.

“Your mission has shown the world that space is for all of us,” SpaceX Mission Control radioed.

“It was a heck of a ride for us … just getting started,” replied trip sponsor Jared Isaacman, referring to the growing number of private flights on the horizon.

SpaceX’s fully automated Dragon capsule reached an unusually high altitude of 363 miles after Wednesday night’s liftoff. Surpassing the International Space Station by 100 miles , the passengers savored views of Earth through a big bubble-shaped window added to the top of the capsule.

The four streaked back through the atmosphere early Saturday evening, the first space travelers to end their flight in the Atlantic since Apollo 9 in 1969. SpaceX’s two previous crew splashdowns — carrying astronauts for NASA — were in the Gulf of Mexico.

Within a few minutes, a pair of SpaceX boats pulled up alongside the bobbing capsule. When the capsule’s hatch was opened on the recovery ship, health care worker Hayley Arceneaux was the first one out, flashing a big smile and thumbs up.

All appeared well and happy.

In this image taken from SpaceX video, passengers aboard a SpaceX capsule react as the capsule parachutes into the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast Saturday. (SpaceX via AP)

In this image taken from SpaceX video, passengers aboard a SpaceX capsule react as the capsule parachutes into the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast Saturday. (SpaceX via AP)

Their families were waiting near the scene of Wednesday night’s launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

This time, NASA was little more than an encouraging bystander, its only tie being the Kennedy launch pad once used for the Apollo moonshots and shuttle crews, but now leased by SpaceX.

Isaacman, 38, an entrepreneur and accomplished pilot, aimed to raise $200 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Donating $100 million himself, he held a lottery for one of the four seats. Late Saturday, Musk tweeted he was donating $50 million, putting them over the top.

For the last seat, Isaacman held a competition for clients of his Allentown, Pennsylvania payment-processing business, Shift4 Payments.

Joining him on the flight were Arceneaux, 29, a St. Jude physician assistant who was treated at the Memphis, Tennessee hospital nearly two decades ago for bone cancer, and contest winners Chris Sembroski, 42, a data engineer in Everett, and Sian Proctor, 51, a community college educator, scientist and artist from Tempe, Arizona.

In this image taken from video, Chris Sembroski, one of four passengers aboard the SpaceX capsule, reacts after emerging from the capsule Saturday, after it was recovered following its splashdown in the Atlantic off the Florida coast. (Inspiration4 via AP)

In this image taken from video, Chris Sembroski, one of four passengers aboard the SpaceX capsule, reacts after emerging from the capsule Saturday, after it was recovered following its splashdown in the Atlantic off the Florida coast. (Inspiration4 via AP)

Sembroski, a former Air Force missile technician who moved to Everett in 2007, is a reliability engineer with Lockheed Martin who works from home. He entered an open lottery by donating to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He didn’t win, but a friend from his college days did and gave him the slot. He is married to Erin Duncan-Sembroski, an English teacher at Explorer Middle School south of Everett, and the couple has two girls.

“Best ride of my life!” Proctor tweeted a few hours after splashdown.

Strangers until March, the four spent six months training and preparing for potential emergencies during the flight — but there was no need to step in, officials said after their return. During the trip dubbed Inspiration4, they had time to chat with St. Jude patients, conduct medical tests on themselves, ring the closing bell for the New York Stock Exchange and do some drawing and ukulele playing.

Arceneaux, the youngest American in space and the first with a prosthesis, assured her patients, “I was a little girl going through cancer treatment just like a lot of you, and if I can do this, you can do this.”

They also took calls from Tom Cruise, interested in his own SpaceX flight to the space station for filming, and the rock band U2′s Bono.

Even their space menu wasn’t typical: Cold pizza and sandwiches, but also pasta Bolognese and Mediterranean lamb.

Before beginning descent, Sembroski was so calm that he was seen in the capsule watching the 1987 Mel Brooks’ film “Spaceballs” on his tablet.

“What an amazing adventure!” he tweeted later.

Congratulations streamed in, including from the Association of Space Explorers to its four newest members.

Aside from trouble with a toilet fan and a bad temperature sensor in an engine, the flight went exceedingly well, officials said. Some of the four passengers experienced motion sickness when they reached orbit — just as some astronauts do.

“It was a very clean mission from start to finish,” said Benji Reed, a SpaceX senior director.

Reed anticipates as many as six private flights a year for SpaceX, sandwiched between astronaut launches for NASA. Four SpaceX flights are already booked to carry paying customers to the space station, accompanied by former NASA astronauts. The first is targeted for early next year with three businessmen paying $55 million apiece. Russia also plans to take up an actor and film director for filming next month and a Japanese tycoon in December.

Customers interested in quick space trips are turning to Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. The two rode their own rockets to the fringes of space in July to spur ticket sales; their flights lasted 10 to 15 minutes.

The 60-year scorecard now stands at 591 people who have reached space or its edges — and is expected to skyrocket as space tourism heats up.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

The Sana Biotechnology building on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025 in Bothell, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell loses planned biotechnology manufacturing plant

New biotechnology manufacturing jobs in Bothell are on indefinite hold.

Two troopers place a photo of slain Washington State Patrol trooper Chris Gadd outside district headquarters about 12 hours after Gadd was struck and killed in a crash on southbound I-5 on March 2 in Marysville. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
One More Stop targets drunk driving this weekend in honor of fallen trooper

Troopers across multiple states will be patrolling from 4 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday.

Students walk outside of Everett High School on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
SnoCo students perform well on metrics, state data shows

At many school districts across the county, more students are meeting or exceeding grade-level standards compared to the state average.

Customers walk in and out of Fred Meyer along Evergreen Way on Monday, Oct. 31, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett council rebukes Kroger for plans to close Fred Meyer store

In the resolution approved by 6-1 vote, the Everett City Council referred to store closure as “corporate neglect.”

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Arlington in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
A divided Arlington City Council votes to reduce SkyFest grant by half

After months of debate over lodging tax funds, the council voted 4-3 to award the popular aviation event $20,000.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Stanwood in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Stanwood jail costs expected to exceed budget by end of 2025

As of September, the Stanwood police has spent $53,078 of its $59,482 annual jail budget.

Alex Waggoner is handcuffed after being sentenced to 19 years for the murder of Abdulkadir Shariif Gedi on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Edmonds man sentenced to more than 19 years for death of rideshare driver

Judge Richard Okrent sentenced Alex Waggoner, 23, Wednesday after a jury earlier found him guilty of murder in the 2nd degree.

Snohomish County Sheriff's Office K-9 vehicle along U.S. 2 where a man was shot on Wednesday, Sep. 17, 2025, in Sultan, Washington. (Snohomish County Sheriff's Office)
Suspect arrested in King County after person shot near Sultan along US 2

The assault investigation closed down east and westbound lanes of U.S. 2 Wednesday afternoon.

A person walks past the freshly painted exterior of the Everett Historic Theatre on Sept. 24, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Historic Everett Theatre reopens with a new look and a new owner

After a three-month closure, the venue’s new owner aims to keep the building as a cultural hub for Everett.

Cutting the ribbon to celebrate recent upgrades at the Sultan Wastewater Treatment Plant on Sept. 24. (Provided photo)
Sultan celebrates new park and treatment plant upgrades

Two ribbon-cuttings occurred with the community and elected officials from the city, county and state.

The Washington State University Everett campus on Wednesday, July 25, 2018 in Everett, Wa. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett allocates funding toward north Broadway bridge design

The $2.5 million in grant dollars will pay for the design of a long-awaited pedestrian bridge near Everett Community College.

Two workers walk past a train following a press event at the Lynnwood City Center Link Station on Friday, June 7, 2024, in Lynnwood, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Sound Transit weighs possible savings on Everett Link extension

Amid rising costs, the agency could adjust the early design of the Everett Link plan. The proposed changes would not remove stations or affect service levels.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.