Spacecraft Pilot Proctor Shares 'Journey to Becoming an Astronaut'
Maj. Sian Proctor, the Arizona Wing member who orbited Earth for three days in September as the first Black woman to pilot a spacecraft, shared her experience recently with nearly 200 members from the Arizona and California wings.
During her half-hour presentation — “Space2inspire: Fostering an Open, Creative, and J.E.D.I. Space” — Proctor described being selected for the Inspiration4 flight aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule in a contest sponsored by Jared Isaacman, the entrepreneur who privately funded the mission. She had applied for the “Prosperity” seat on the flight, launching an online shop called My Space2inspire where she sells her space-themed art and poetry.
“I became a space artist during COVID,” Proctor said, “and decided that I should apply [for that seat] because being engaged in the arts really transformed me.”
She shared the short video she used to apply for the contest, reading a poem she wrote for the occasion. It explains her concept of “J.E.D.I. Space”: “We have J for justice to ignite the bold; E for equity to cut past the old; D for diversity to end the fight; and I for inclusion to try to make it right.”