Astronaut back in Arizona after making history on Space X mission
By Briana Whitney
Click here for updates on this story
PHOENIX (KTVK, KPHO) — She made history and now she’s back here in Arizona. Dr. Sian Proctor was part of the first all civilian crew to fly to space – the Inspiration 4. Their journey has been a focus of a new Netflix docuseries and international attention.
Arizona’s Family met Proctor nearly two years ago before all of this and got a chance to catch up with her now that she’s home. She’s still on Cloud 9 because this is what she’s waited for her entire life, and really she’s living proof that it’s never too late.
She was part of the four-person crew on SpaceX’s Inspiration4, which launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida just after 5 p.m. Arizona time.
Proctor didn’t make a NASA crew for space over a decade ago. She thought that was her last chance to go to space but didn’t know the opportunity of a lifetime would come in her 50s.
The Inspiration 4 crew captured eyes and hearts all over the world. Proctor is a professor, an artist and poet, but now that’s not all. “And now I’m an astronaut! And I actually have certified dragon wings that Space X gave me,” Proctor said.
SpaceX capsule returns four civilians from orbit, capping off first tourism mission Proctor was chosen to be part of the crew because of her poetry and art, and even created art during the three-day journey. But she also documented the special moments. “When we opened up the cupola door for the first time, I was actually taking video of that experience,” she said. “You realize that you can see the entire sphere of the earth and you’re looking around like, ‘Oh my goodness, that is the edge of our planet!'”
It’s a moment Proctor didn’t know she’d ever live to see. Her dad worked on the Apollo missions and helped bring Neil Armstrong back to Earth safely. Armstrong signed a note to her dad thanking him. “He doesn’t give out his autograph very often,” she said. “I was able to bring that to space and see it float.”
The launch is set for Wednesday September 15.
Proctor plans to bring all she’s learned to her students – she’s been a geoscience professor at South Mountain Community College for over 20 years. While she hopes her journey inspires little girls and boys who one day hope to go to space, she also said to those her age: the best may be yet to come. “I’ve been inspiring a lot of older women,” Proctor said. “I became the first black female pilot of a spacecraft in human history! If I can go to space at 50, whatever you’re trying to do just keep on striving.”
“My only fear was that this moment was never going to come or happen for me.”
Proctor said she would go back to space in a heartbeat if she could. She said the best part for her is that they hit their fundraising goal of $200 million for St. Jude, and even after they’re back on Earth, they’re already on their way to $250 million.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
