In just a few hours, four individuals will blast off into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 in the first all-civilian space mission, but one of the crew members will go down in history as the first black female pilot of a spacecraft.
Dr Sian Proctor, 51, will board the Dragon capsule prior to an 8pm ET lift off and spend three days circling Earth along with Jared Isaacman, 38, Hayley Arceneaux, 29, and Chris Sembroski, 41.
Proctor will also be the fourth black women in space, which she said during an interview means she has an 'opportunity to not only accomplish my dream, but also inspire the next generation of women of color.'
Along with being an astronaut, Proctor is also a geology professor at the Maricopa Community College in Arizona and has a passion for Afrofuturism space art – she plans on taking some pieces with her to space.Scroll down for video
Siena Proctor will go down in history as the first black female pilot of a spacecraft
Proctor was announced as an Inspiration4 crew member in March after she was selected as the top entrant of an independently judged online business competition that attracted approximately 200 entries.
The competition was conducted by the eCommerce platform Shift4Shop, which is own by Isaacman who purchased the entire SpaceX flight.
The idea of Inspiratin4, first announced in February, is to raise $200 million for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.
Now the day has finally come for the crew to take off and Proctor is reflecting on the moment by acknowledging what it means to her.
Dr Sian Proctor, 51, (second from left) will board the Dragon capsule prior to an 8pm ET lift off and spend three days circling Earth along with Jared Isaacman, (second from right) 38, Hayley Arceneaux, 29, (right) and Chris Sembroski, 41 (left)
'I am the mission pilot and it's really special for me to hold that title because I'm going to be the first
