Commercial astronaut Sian Proctor shares her story with Taiwan kids
Commercial astronaut Sian Proctor shares her story with Taiwan kids
2025-10-03
In 2021, Sian Proctor became the first African-American woman to pilot a spacecraft as part of SpaceX’s all-civilian Inspiration4 mission. Now, she’s in Taiwan, sharing her story, along with a message of perseverance, with local students.
In 2021 SpaceX launched Inspiration4, a groundbreaking space mission that took four civilians to orbit around the Earth for three days. Among the participants was Sian Proctor, who is now in Taiwan on a charity project with a clothing brand. She spoke with 60 students on Friday.
- What meals do you usually eat?
- What do we eat? Space X asked me what do I want to eat. My favorite thing, which is pizza! I love pizza. And so I ate pizza in space. But we also had M&Ms, and Skittles.
Proctor talked about space snacks and toilets, patiently answering every question. She says the voyage inspired her to design T-shirts for charity.
Sian Proctor
Commercial astronaut
I got to see and experience Earth light .This T-shirt has the international space station on it, which is a fantastic example of people from different countries coming together and living and working. And if this can be a model for space, it can definitely be a model for Earth.
Proctor is 55 years old and was born in Guam. Her father previously worked at a NASA tracking station, which sparked her dream of going to space. In 2009 she applied to become a NASA astronaut but was rejected in the final round.
Sian Proctor
Commercial astronaut
I have wanted to be an astronaut ever since I was a little girl. My dad was working at the NASA tracking station during the Apollo missions. And so I feel like space has always been a part of me.
In the end, Proctor became a geoscientist, and at the age of 51 was selected to join the Inspiration4 mission as a poet and artist. Before takeoff, she underwent 6 months of survival training, fighter jet flights and simulator drills. She’s the first woman to become a commercial astronaut and the first African-American woman to pilot a spacecraft.
Sian Proctor
Commercial astronaut
One of the big things was I was offered to become the mission pilot. And I have my pilot’s license, but I’d never flown like military jets and all of those things. I had to learn a lot of material. I basically had to go from a geoscience professor to a systems engineer in a very short period of time. But I tell my students that you can learn anything at any age.
Proctor did not give up on her dream, and finally traveled to space in her 50s. She’s now encouraging young students to keep chasing their dreams and never give up.
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#inspirational #space #astronaut #sian #sianproctor #spacetravel #spacex
美國女太空人來台! 51歲地科學家圓夢 鼓勵孩子勇敢追夢
2025-10-03
很多小朋友的夢想是當太空人，對宇宙有許多好奇！服裝品牌推行慈善計畫，邀請美國太空人普羅科特來台，與學生座談。她分享在51歲時被Space X選上，參與第一個"全平民"太空任務，還成為第一位駕駛商業太空船的女性，因此鼓勵孩子們要勇敢追夢。
2021年四位平民參加Space X"靈感4號"任務，繞飛地球三天，為航太史寫下歷史。其中一位太空人"希恩•普羅科特"受邀來台，參與服裝品牌慈善計畫，與60位學生座談。
-你們通常都吃什麼食物
-我們吃什麼嗎? Space X問我想吃甚麼 我最喜歡的就是披薩 我愛披薩 我在太空吃披薩 我們也有巧克力和糖果
太空中吃什麼、怎麼洗澡上廁所，小朋友好奇提問，普羅科特一一解答，更分享這場太空飛行，帶給她設計慈善T-shirt的靈感。
[[商業太空人 普羅科特]]
我有機會看到，體驗地球光。衣服上有國際太空站，是一個很棒的例子。自不同國家的人，聚集、生活、工作。如果這可以是太空中的模範，對地球來說，當然也可以。
今年55歲的普羅科特，出生於美國關島，爸爸曾在NASA太空跟蹤站工作，耳濡目染下，有了太空夢。2009年她參加NASA太空人選拔，可惜在最後一輪中被淘汰。
[[商業太空人 普羅科特]]
“我從還是個小女孩時，就一直想成為太空人，我爸爸在阿波羅任務時期，在NASA太空跟蹤站工作，因此我覺得，太空一直是我的一部分。”
普羅科特後來成為地球科學家，直到51歲以詩人和藝術家身分，爭取到"靈感四號"太空船票。經過六個月的生存技能、戰機、模擬器特訓，成為第一位女性商業太空船飛行員，第一位駕駛太空船的美國非裔女性。
[[商業太空人 普羅科特]]
其中一個挑戰是，我被任命為任務飛行員，我有飛行員執照，但從沒飛過軍機或模擬器等，因此我必須學習很多東西。基本上，我必須在極短的時間內，從一名地球科學教授，成為一名系統工程師，但我都告訴學生，你在任何年紀可以學習任何東西。
不放棄夢想，終究在51歲一圓太空夢，普羅科特鼓勵台灣學子，永不放棄、努力追夢。
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