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Meet The Man Who Won A Trip To Space And Gave It To A Friend

Published

2 years ago

January 27, 2022

He told his family and a few friends. He dropped hints to a couple of colleagues. So hardly anyone knew that the airline pilot could have — should have — been on board when SpaceX launched its first tourists into orbit last year.

Meet Kyle Hippchen, the real winner of a first-of-its-kind sweepstakes, who gave his seat to his college roommate.

Though Hippchen’s secret is finally out, that doesn’t make it any easier knowing he missed his chance to orbit Earth because he exceeded the weight limit. He still hasn’t watched the Netflix series on the three-day flight purchased by a tech entrepreneur for himself and three guests last September.

“It hurts too much,” he said. “I’m insanely disappointed. But it is what it is.”

Hippchen, 43, a Florida-based captain for Delta’s regional carrier Endeavor Air, recently shared his story with The Associated Press during his first visit to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center since his lost rocket ride.

He opened up about his out-of-the-blue, dream-come-true windfall, the letdown when he realized he topped SpaceX’s weight restrictions of 250 pounds (113 kilograms) and his offer to the one person he knew would treasure the flight as much as himself. Four months later, he figures probably fewer than 50 people know he was the actual winner.

“It was their show, and I didn’t want to be distracting too much from what they were doing,” said Hippchen, who watched the launch from a VIP balcony.

His seat went to Chris Sembroski, 42, a data engineer in Everett, Washington. The pair roomed together starting in the late 1990s while attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. They’d pile into cars with other student space geeks and make the hourlong drive south for NASA’s shuttles launches. They also belonged to a space advocacy group, going to Washington to push commercial space travel.

Despite living on opposite coasts, Hippchen and Sembroski continued to swap space news and champion the cause. Neither could resist when Shift4 Payments founder and CEO Jared Isaacman raffled off a seat on the flight he purchased from SpaceX’s Elon Musk. The beneficiary was St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Hippchen snapped up $600 worth of entries. Sembroski, about to start a new job at Lockheed Martin, shelled out $50. With 72,000 entries in the random drawing last February, neither figured he’d win and didn’t bother telling the other.

By early March, Hippchen started receiving vague emails seeking details about himself. That’s when he read the contest’s small print: The winner had to be under 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds (2 meters and 113 kilograms).

Hippchen was 5-foot-10 and 330 pounds (1.8 meters and 150 kilograms).

He told organizers he was pulling out, figuring he was only one of many finalists. In the flurry of emails and calls that followed, Hippchen was stunned to learn he’d won.

With a September launch planned, the timeline was tight. Still new at flying people, SpaceX needed to start measuring its first private passengers for their custom-fitted flight suits and capsule seats. As an aerospace engineer and pilot, Hippchen knew the weight limit was a safety issue involving the seats, and could not be exceeded.

“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.

Isaacman, the spaceflight’s sponsor, allowed Hippchen to pick a stand-in.

“Kyle’s willingness to gift his seat to Chris was an incredible act of generosity,” he said in an email this week.

Isaacman introduced his passengers at the end of March: a St. Jude physician assistant who beat cancer there as a child; a community college educator who was Shift4 Payments’ winning business client; and Sembroski.

Hippchen joined them in April to watch SpaceX launch astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA, the company’s last crew flight before their own.

In gratitude, Sembroski offered to take personal items into space for Hippchen. He gathered his high school and college rings, airline captain epaulets, a great-uncle’s World War I Purple Heart and odds and ends from his best friends from high school, warning, “Don’t ask any details.”

By launch day on Sept. 15, word had gotten around. As friends and families gathered for the liftoff, Hippchen said the conversation went like this: “My name’s Kyle. Are you The Kyle? Yeah, I’m The Kyle.”

Before climbing into SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, Sembroski followed tradition and used the phone atop the launch tower to make his one allotted call. He called Hippchen and thanked him one more time.

“I’m forever grateful,” Sembroski said.

And while Hippchen didn’t get to see Earth from orbit, he did get to experience about 10 minutes of weightlessness. During Sembroski’s flight, he joined friends and family of the crew on a special zero-gravity plane.

Headline

Categories Of Jobs Under UK Skilled Work Visa With 48% Wage Increase [FULL LIST]

Published

3 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Editor

The UK government announced an increase in the general salary threshold by 48 per cent for Nigerian immigrants and other foreigners arriving on a Skilled Work visa.

According to the Home Secretary, James Cleverly, who made the announcement on behalf of the United Kingdom government, the increase jumped from £26,200 to £38,700.

The purpose of the increase for the UK skilled work visa was to cut migration and put British workers first in force.

According to the information on the its website updated on April 4, 2024, the UK businesses are now required to pay overseas workers coming to the UK on a Skilled Worker visa significantly more.

Cleverly said: “It’s time to turn off the taps and end the flow of cheap workers from abroad.

“Mass migration is unsustainable and it’s simply not fair. It undercuts the wages of hard-working people who are just trying to make ends meet.

“We are refocusing our immigration system to prioritise the brightest and best who have the skills our economy needs, while reducing overall numbers.

“I promised the British people an immigration system that serves their interests, and to bring numbers down – these tough measures deliver on that commitment. Employers must also play their part and put British workers first.”

The UK listed the conditions attached to the categories of jobs found under the skilled work visa for those seeking to work through the scheme.

For salary requirements, it reads: “You’ll usually need to be paid the ‘standard’ salary rate of at least £38,700 per year, or the ‘going rate’ for your job, whichever is higher.

“Your salary is £39,000 per year, but the annual going rate for the job you’ll be doing is £45,000. You do not meet the usual salary requirements for this visa.

“Each occupation code has its own annual going rate. Check the going rate for your job in the going rates table.”

However, it further states that, “If you work in healthcare or education, there are different salary rules if you work in some healthcare or education jobs, where the going rate is based on national pay scales.”

“If you do not meet the usual salary requirements, and you do not work in healthcare or education, you might still be eligible if your salary will be at least £30,960 per year,” it added.

Some of the jobs and their codes under the skilled work visa are seen below.

1111 Chief executives and senior officials

1121 Production managers and directors in manufacturing

1122 Production managers and directors in construction

1123 Production managers and directors in mining and energy

1131 Financial managers and directors

1132 Marketing, sales and advertising directors

1133 Public relations and communications directors

1134 Purchasing managers and directors

1135 Charitable organisation managers and directors

1136 Human resource managers and directors

1137 Information technology directors

1139 Functional managers and directors not elsewhere classified

1140 Directors in logistics, warehousing and transport

1150 Managers and directors in retail and wholesale

1162 Senior police officers

Others can be viewed here.

Headline

UK Varsity Offers Nigerians N44m Scholarships

Published

17 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Editor

The University of East Anglia, situated in Norwich, United Kingdom, has announced a £33,150 (N44.3 million) worth of scholarships and travel costs of £4000 (N5.3 million) to Nigerians and other applicants seeking masters in Plant and Health in its institution.

The funding, according to information gathered on the school’s website on Wednesday, is the David Sainsbury Scholarships in Global Plant Health, which is fully funded for students planning to travel to the UK for study.

The scholarship also covers postgraduate researcher stipend level, which they said would be determined later for the session of admission, adding that the previous academic year was £18,622.

The university also noted that the application is for the 2024/2025 Academic Session, which will begin in September.

While wooing prospective and eligible applicants, the school wrote, “The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) offers the prestigious David Sainsbury Scholarships in Global Plant Health to a limited number of applicants on the MSc in Global Plant Health.

“Each full scholarship will cover up to the full cost of the tuition fee (£33,150 for 2024-25), maintenance grant (exact value at the UKRI postgraduate researcher stipend level to be determined for 2024-25; in 2023-24, it was £18,622), and an additional £4,000 for travel costs (subject to valid economy class travel receipts)

“You are eligible for a full scholarship under these terms if you meet all these criteria: You are in receipt of an offer of a place on the UEA MSc in Global Plant Health; You are a national of or domiciled in a least-developed, low-income, or lower-middle-income country or territory as defined by the Overseas Development Agency Development Assistance Committee (DAC) list, version 2024-25 for entry in 2024-25 academic year.”

There are a limited number of scholarships available, and these will be awarded throughout the year, so you are advised to apply early.

The institution further added that once the criteria for admission are met, the applicants are eligible for receipts of an offer of a place on the UEA MSc in Global Plant Health.

It further advised that more scholarships will be updated on their website in May while encouraging applicants to always check for updates.

Headline

B-I-Z-A-R-R-E! Mother Sets Self, Two Daughters Ablaze

Published

18 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Editor

A migrant mother-of-two who felt isolated in her new Australian home drove to a remote area and set herself and her two daughters on fire, after telling her husband she was taking the girls to McDonald’s.

James Swan Palakamannil has given the Coroners Court of Victoria a harrowing account of what his life has been like since his wife Jasmine Thomas and daughters Carolyn and Evlyn died in a Melbourne car fire two years ago.

“To see the coffin go down with all of your favourite people in it changes your life,” he told the court on Tuesday, April 23, The Age reported.

“I will never be the same again. Never get to touch, feel or see them again. They will remain pictures on a screen.

“On March 24 (2022), the sky became three stars richer.”

Mr Palakamannil remembers how three-year-old Carolyn would drag a chair to reach the front door handle and open it as he arrived home from work every day. She would always be wearing her favourite colour, pink.

Her older sister, six-year-old Evlyn, “was the boss of the house”.

“She wore the pants,” Mr Palakamannil told the court.

“I will never be the same again” Husband speaks after his wife drove to remote location and set herself and two daughters on fire

Their mother Jasmine Thomas suffered from postnatal depression and then became paranoid during the Covid pandemic.

On the night of March 24, 2022, Mr Palakamannil had returned to their Lyndhurst home in Melbourne’s south-east to find their daughters playing on a mobile phone and his wife laying in bed. A short time later, Ms Thomas told him she was taking the girls to McDonald’s.

However, CCTV footage showed the mother first went to a service station in nearby suburb Cranbourne West where she bought and filled a jerry can. Ms Thomas then drove herself and her daughters to a McDonald’s car park where they sat until about 7.30pm.

Less than 10 minutes later, she drove to a secluded spot on the Western Port Highway, covered her car in fuel and set it alight with herself and two daughters inside.

Emergency services rushed to the scene after a passer-by reported the fire, which was brought under control in 15 minutes. Ms Thomas, Evlyn and Carolyn all died in the horrific blaze.

“I will never be the same again” Husband speaks after his wife drove to remote location and set herself and two daughters on fire.

“Suddenly, there is no one waiting for me at the door,” Mr Palakamannil told the court through tears.

“[I’m now] living in an empty and silent house.” Mr Palakamannil and Ms Thomas had married in India in 2012 after meeting on an arranged marriage website.

The couple, who were both born in Kuwait, moved to Australia and were granted permanent residency in 2015. Mr Palakamannil recalled how the Gulf War inspired him to teach Evlyn to be a good person.

“I watched her take her first steps, say her first words. I’d give her pep talks before bedtime … about famine and the war and how kids go hungry, about global warming and climate change to put a desire in her heart to … be a force for change,” he said.

Ms Thomas worked in Melbourne hospitals as a nurse but unexpectedly resigned from Mulgrave Private Hospital in 2021.

However, she stayed as a casual employee at Dandenong Hospital. During this time she told her family she was having marriage problems.

Coroner John Cain noted Ms Thomas had contacted a number of professional services, including police, and experienced postnatal depression. He found those services had no opportunity to prevent her murder-suicide.

“Despite child protection and Victoria Police holding concerns about her mental health, as she was not assessed as acutely unwell and did not wish to engage in services, she did not receive any formal assistance or diagnosis,” Cain said.

Instead, the court heard how Ms Thomas was socially isolated with her problems often disregarded by her extended family.

“My late wife, Jasmine, tried her best. I wish she had … sought help. She struggled to connect and engage with people and make friends. When she couldn’t any more … in the process she took out my most prized possessions,” Mr Palakamannil said.