Sian Proctor

Sian Hayley "Leo" Proctor (March 28, 1970, Hagåtña, Guam) is an American commercial astronaut, geology professor, and science communicator. She was also the education outreach officer for the first Hawai’i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) Mission. [2]

Sian Hayley Proctor
Proctor in 2021
Born (1970-03-28) March 28, 1970
Hagåtña, Guam[1]
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Geology professor, and science communicator
Known for
Academic background
Education
ThesisCognitive process strategies and performance on a contour map memory test (2006)
Doctoral advisorSarah K. Brem
Academic work
DisciplineGeology and Science education
InstitutionsSouth Mountain Community College
Space career
Commercial Astronaut
Crew Dragon Pilot
Time in space
2d 23h 3m
MissionsInspiration4
Websitedrsianproctor.com

On September 15, 2021, she was launched into Earth's orbit as the pilot of the Crew Dragon space capsule, as part of the Inspiration4 private orbital spaceflight. As the pilot on this mission, she became the first Black woman to pilot a spacecraft. She is also a major in the Civil Air Patrol where she serves as the aerospace education officer for its Arizona Wing.[3][4][5]

Biography

She was born in Hagåtña, Guam on March 28, 1970, to a Sperry Univac engineer who was working for NASA at the Guam Remote Ground Terminal during the Apollo era. After the Moon landings, Proctor's family moved to Minnesota and later to various Northeastern states while her father changed jobs. Her family moved to Fairport, New York, when she was 14 where she later graduated from Fairport High School.[6][7]

She studied at Arizona State University, where she received an undergraduate degree on environmental sciences and later a masters degree in Geology in 1998. In 2006 she obtained a PhD in Science education.[5][8]

She is a member of the Association of Space Explorers. Furthermore in December 2022 she was selected as a member of the National Space Council’s Users Advisory Group.[9][10]

In 2022 she received the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from University of Massachusetts Lowell.[11]

In 2023 she participated in the space camp Space 2101 at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.[12]

Space career

2009 NASA Astronaut Selection

She was a finalist for the 2009 NASA Astronaut Selection Process. She was one of 47 finalists competing against over 3,500 applicants. Nonetheless, during the final round, she was not one of the nine astronaut candidates selected for the 2009 NASA Astronaut Group.[6]

Inspiration4 crew during their visit to the Johnson Space Center at NASA.

Commercial astronaut during the mission Inspiration4

She was selected as the pilot of the Crew Dragon mission Inspiration4, which launched on September 15, 2021. The Prosperity seat, was obtained as she won an entrepreneur competition. During the flight training she received the call sign Leo.[13][14][15][16]

She was joined by Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, and Chris Sembroski, for the first all-civilian human spaceflight mission. In August 2021 she is featured on the cover of a Time magazine double issue with the rest of the crew of Inspiration4.[17][18][19]

Career in science education

HI-SEAS (2013)

She acted as education outreach officer for the NASA-funded Hawai’i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) mission. The purpose of the mission was to investigate food strategies for long duration spaceflight and missions to the Moon or Mars.

During the four-month simulation, Proctor was hired by Discover Magazine as the photographer for Kate Greene's article Simulating Mars on Earth. She also filmed the Meals for Mars YouTube series while in the Mars simulation.[20][21][22]

PolarTREC (2014)

In 2014, she was selected as a PolarTREC teacher, which is a program funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that connects teachers with scientists conducting research in the arctic and Antarctic regions. As part of this porgram, she spent a month in Barrow, Alaska learning historical ecology for risk management and investigating the impact of climate change on the coastline and community.[23][24]

Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassadors Program (ACEAP) (2016)

In 2016 she was selected as a ACEAP Ambassador. A program from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that sends K–16 formal and informal astronomy educators to US astronomy facilities in Chile. During the summer of 2016, she joined eight other ambassadors as they visited Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), Gemini South Observatory, and the Atacama Large Millimeter-submillimeter Array (ALMA).[25]

Proctor returned to San Pedro, Chile in 2017 to engage in STEM education outreach activities with the local high school and surrounding community.

NOAA Teacher At Sea (2017)

She participated in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Teacher At Sea program in 2017. The program was started in 1990 and provides teachers with research experience working at sea. In her case, during three weeks she conducted pollock research in the Bering Sea on the fisheries vessel Oscar Dyson and detailed her experience for the blog of NOAA.[26]

Science communication
Photo of astronaut Dr. Sian Proctor holding a microphone and talking on stage during the space camp Space 2101 at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.
Dr. Sian Proctor during the space camp Space 2101 at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in 2023.

She is an international speaker, communicating about science education, lidership, spacial simulations, sustainable foods and diversity in science. Furthermore, she has given several TEDx talks.[21][27][28][29]

Appearances in television

She has made multiple appearances on television.[5][30][31][32]

  • 2010: Season 2 of The Colony,a ten episodes show that was filmed in New Orleans.
  • 2012: Appearance in two episodes of the first season of The STEM Journals, an educational show for kids interested in science, technology, engineering, and math.
  • 2016: Appearance in episode 2: Are We Alone of the series Genius by Stephen Hawking
  • From 2017 to 2019 she acted as the science demonstrator on the Science Channel show Strange Evidence.
  • 2020: Phantom signals.
  • 2021: Ancient unexplained files.
  • 2021: When Big Things Go Wrong, a series for The History Channel which explains the science of disasters.
  • 2021: Participated in the series Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space. An original Netflix series.

References
  1. "Certificate of Birth". Guam Memorial Hospital.
  2. Proctor, Sian. "Doctor Proctor's Space 2 Inspire". p. Home. Retrieved March 8, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. Davenport, Christian (September 15, 2021). "They 'could be our neighbors,' and they're going to space. SpaceX gets ready to fly the Inspiration4 crew". Washington Post. washingtonpost.com. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  4. Chang, Kenneth (September 16, 2021). "Sian Proctor is the first Black woman to pilot a spacecraft". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  5. Thacker, Dawn (February 7, 2012). "Profiles in Strengths: Sian Proctor, Ph.D." South Mountain Community College. Retrieved March 8, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. "Dr. Sian Proctor's Transformative Space". Maricopa Community Colleges. p. About the District. Retrieved March 8, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. Drake, Nadia (October 7, 2021). "Sian Proctor, first Black woman to pilot a spacecraft, opens up about her journey". National Geographic. pp. Science. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  8. Proctor, Sian Hayley (2006). Cognitive process strategies and performance on a contour map memory test (Ph.D. thesis). Arizona State University. OCLC 759870195. ProQuest 305357112.
  9. "Association of Space Explorers". Space-explorers. pp. United States. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  10. The White House (December 16, 2022). "Vice President Harris Announces Selections to the National Space Council's Users Advisory Group". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved December 18, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. Gowdey-Backus, Emily; Cicco, Nancy (April 28, 2022). "National COVID Response Leader, First Black Woman Commercial Astronaut To Address Class of 2022". UMASS Lowell. pp. Press Release. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  12. "KAUST Space 2101 offers KSA students an 'Out-Of-This-World' STEAM-Learning Experience". Saudi Gazette. Thuwal. January 30, 2023. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  13. Bardhan, Ashley; Brown, Mike (September 3, 2021). "Inspiration4: Why it's going higher than the ISS". Inverse. Archived from the original on September 17, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  14. Kan, Michel (September 16, 2021). "Inspiration 4 Successfully Blasts Off for the First All-Civilian Orbital Space Flight". PC Magazine. pp. Science & Space. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  15. Chang, Kenneth (February 1, 2021). "To Get on This SpaceX Flight, You Don't Have to Be Rich, Just Lucky". The New York Times. pp. SpaceX's Astronaut Launch. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  16. Thompson, Amy (September 15, 2021). "Inspiration4's call signs: The crew of SpaceX's all-civilian mission have special nicknames". Space. Cape Canaveral. pp. Spaceflight. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  17. Thompson, Amy (October 22, 2021). "Inspiration4 astronaut Sian Proctor reflects on historic SpaceX spaceflight experience". Space. pp. Spaceflight. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  18. Kluger, Jeffrey (August 10, 2021). "Four Civilian Astronauts. Three Days in Orbit. One Giant Leap. Meet the Inspiration4 Crew". Time. pp. Science: Space. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  19. Kluger, Jeffrey (April 23, 2021). "Meet the Inspiration4 Team, the World's First Non-Professional Astronaut Space Crew". Time. pp. Science: Space. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  20. Greene, Kate (May 10, 2013). "What the First Martian Settlers Will Eat (Maybe)". Discover. Archived from the original on July 11, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  21. Proctor, Sian (October 2018). "Eat Like a Martian" (mp4). TED. Tucson Salon. Retrieved March 9, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  22. Proctor, Sian (2013). "Meals For Mars". YouTube. Retrieved January 25, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. Proctor, Sian (February 5, 2014). "Sian Proctor". PolarTREC. p. Member. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  24. Cornelius, Keridwen (December 8, 2018). "Curiosity Rover". Phoenix. pp. People. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  25. Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassadors Program (2016). "ACEAP 2016 Ambassadors". Astroambassadors. p. 2016 Ambassadors. Retrieved June 10, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  26. Proctor, Sian (August 2, 2017). "Sian Proctor: A Fast Farewell!". NOAA Teachers at Sea Blog. Gulf of Alaska. p. Past Seasons. Retrieved January 25, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. Proctor, Sian. "International Speaker". p. Appearances. Retrieved March 9, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  28. Proctor, Sian. "Imposter Syndrome: Overcoming the Voice From Within" (mp4). TED. South Mountain Community Library. Retrieved March 9, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  29. Proctor, Sian. "Our Transformative Space" (mp4). TED. Retrieved March 9, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  30. "Are We Alone?". Genius by Stephen Hawking. Episode 2. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  31. "Strange Evidence". Science Channel. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  32. Proctor, Sian. "Lights, camera, action!". p. On camera personality. Retrieved March 9, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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