Garriott got back from the dive less than a week ago and said it took about four hours to descend 7 miles (11km) to the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean. The trip, which was in a small vessel designed to withstand the enormous pressure at those depths, was to collect geological, water and sea creature samples for research.
Garriott partnered with the National Association for the Teaching of English and passed time by reading student-submitted cinquains, a type of poem with only 22 syllables.
Garriott is known for his adventure travels, commercial space endeavours and scientific research, a passion he shared with his father, NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, who died in 2019.