Today—September 15th, 2021—is an exciting day in the history of space travel. Today is the day SpaceX’s Inspiration4 is scheduled to launch. If successful, Inspiration4 will be the world’s first all-civilian mission to orbit the Earth, taking us one step closer to making space flight accessible to everyone—and not just highly trained professional astronauts.

Do you ever wonder if YOU could go to space one day?

We are so excited that one of Inspiration4’s crew members is Dr. Sian Proctor (@DrSianProctor), who came on our show earlier this year. In honor of her historic trip to space as a civilian astronaut, we’re re-airing her original interview today—she talks about her experience as an analog astronaut and what it’s like to live in a mock Mars habitat for months in Hawaii.

We are also sharing a couple minutes of her interview that didn’t make it into the original episode. It’s fitting that Sian is part of the Inspiration4 mission because she herself is an inspiration. Through education and artwork, Sian is encouraging conversations about building a more just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive space for all of humanity.

Thank you, Sian, for using your space to inspire us all. Congratulations on achieving your lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut, and all our best to you and the entire Inspiration4 mission team.

Have a question you've been wondering about? Send an email or voice recording to everwonder@californiasciencecenter.org to tell us what you'd like to hear in future episodes.

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