Inspiration4 mission pilot Dr. Sian Proctor’s fist-pumps her triumphant return from 3-day orbital spaceflight. Dr. Proctor’s spacesuit can be seen at Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum’s new Futures in Space exhibition. (photo: J. Krauss)

DRESS FOR SUCCESS

Astronaut Mission Pilot Dr. Sian Proctor’s Custom Spacesuit goes on Display at Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum

What do you call a black woman piloting a spaceship? Mission pilot.

What do you call the first Black woman to pilot a spaceship? Dr. Sian Proctor.

When Inspiration4 went to space the crew was made aware of the simple but poignant truth that if anything went wrong, there would be no “Plan B” to get the astronauts home.

“Our Crew Dragon Spacecraft was outfitted with the largest single-piece cupola window in the place of a docking mechanism,” explains mission pilot and Space poet Dr. Sian Proctor. “Our flight was “free-floating”, meaning we were flying around the Earth and would not be docking with the ISS or any other orbiting platform. The reason why was simple: we couldn’t.”

It is part of the story of the Inspiration4 mission that often gets overlooked. But it was something its mission pilot Dr. Proctor understood (and, like the rest of the 4-person crew, signed off on understanding and agreeing to).

Inspiration4 crew, clockwise from top: Commander Jared Isaacman, medical officer Hayley Arceneaux, mission specialist Chris Sembroksi, and mission pilot Dr. Sian Proctor. (photo: J. Krauss)

“As mission pilot, it is definitely something I kept in mind,” shares Dr. Proctor. “Prior to Inspiration4, SpaceX did three crewed Space missions to a destination, the ISS. Our mission was very much along the lines of the days of NASA Mercury and Gemini. No destination and no one would be coming for us if anything went wrong. Once we were in orbit, our only option to return home was to de-orbit and land safely.”

Which is exactly what they did, making history. The Inspiration4 Crew Dragon mission proved to the world that civilians could safely and dependably go to space and that SpaceX not only makes great rockets, SpaceX makes great spaceships.

And spacesuits.

Private Astronaut Dr. Sian Proctor’s custom SpaceX Crew Dragon Launch-and-Entry IVA spacesuit (photo: Smithsonian)

Debuting in 2020 as part of NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley’s Demo-2 mission — and as an integral part of SpaceX’ first crewed test flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station — the SpaceX IVA (Intravehicular Activity) spacesuit immediately changed how the world thought of spacesuits.

SpaceX’s Launch-and-Entry IVA spacesuit is the completion of their re-invention of modern Space travel (photo: NASA)

Jump forward to September 15, 2021, where Commander Jared Isaacman, mission pilot Dr. Sian Proctor, medical officer Hayley Arceneaux, and mission specialist Chris Sembroski, launch to Space all wearing their own custom SpaceX IVA spacesuit aboard Inspiration4.

Sponsored by businessman philanthropist Jared Isaacman, Inspiration4 was the first all-civilian, private astronaut-crewed orbital mission to Space.

Inspiration4 Commander Jared Isaacman’s SpaceX IVA spacesuit on display at Kennedy Space Center (photo: Kennedy Space Center)

Inspiration4 connected with people from all backgrounds, all around the world. After three days and 48 orbits around the planet, the Inspiration4 mission culminated with a safe ocean landing in the Atlantic off the coast of Cape Canaveral, FL, and raised over $240 million dollars for St. Jude Children Research Hospital in support of treating and defeating cancer in children.

Along with these accolades, the Inspiration4 mission was a mission of firsts, including:

• First all-civilian orbital Space flight
• First privately funded orbital flight to Space
• First Astronaut with a partial prosthetic (Hayley Arceneaux)

Dr. Proctor’s inclusion — as the 4th Black woman to go to Space and orbit — alone qualified her flight as historic.

Inspiration4 mission pilot Dr. Proctor preparing for a training flight (photo: J.Krauss)

Yet beyond historic, Dr. Sian Proctor selection as Inspiration4 mission pilot became a veritable litany of firsts:

• First Woman Commercial Astronaut to pilot a Spaceship
• First Black Commercial Astronaut
• First Black Woman Astronaut to be assigned Mission Pilot
• First Artist selected to go to Space (Dr. Proctor was selected based on the success of and public response to the original poem, Space2Inspire, which she wrote and recited for her entry)
• First Black person to paint in Space

September 1921, Bessie Coleman became the first Black woman to earn her pilot’s license, in France owing to segregation in the US. 100 years later, Sept. 2021, Dr. Sian Proctor became the first Black woman mission pilot.

Even before the flight, Dr. Proctor’s identity as a renaissance figure was cemented by her fellow Inspiration4 crew mates, who accorded her the call sign “Leo” in homage to none other than Leonardo da Vinci.

Since the Inspiration4 crew’s flight to Space, Dr. Proctor has become a global champion for J.E.D.I. Space, a vision for Space that is Just, Equitable, Diverse, and Inclusive. She has published a number of books inspired by her experience, including EarthLight: The Power of EarthLight and the Human Perspective which reconsiders the field of light produced by our planet’s own luminous signature as being nothing less than essential to all life; and her new book, Space Poet, a collection of 42 pre-flight, spaceflight, and post-flight poems — including the poem that won her the Inspiration4 prosperity seat.

She was selected to serve on the National Space Council User Advisory Group and has served as the US Science Envoy for Space. Currently, she is producing a dome show around her Space experience and Earthlight.

It is for all of these reasons that the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum chose to feature Dr. Proctor’s iconic custom SpaceX IVA Spacesuit in the museum’s newest exhibition, Futures in Space.

Futures in Space explores the as-yet unanswered social, political, and economic questions that may emerge with advances in space exploration technology and enterprise: Who decides who goes to space? Why do we go? And what will we do when we get there?

On loan to the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum for the Futures in Space exhibition by Isaacman, Dr. Proctor’s spacesuit is the most recent of the Inspiration4 spacesuits to be given prominent display.

Inspiration4 mission specialist Astronaut Chris Sembroski in front of his spacesuit, U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama. (photo: C. Sembroski) Medical officer Astronaut Hayley Arceneaux’ spacesuit will soon be displayed at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, in Memphis, Tennessee. (photo: J. Krauss)

As the new face of Space, and a model for the power and importance of representation, it is fitting that the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum’s Futures in Space exhibition chose Dr. Proctor’s custom Spacesuit to answer the questions it poses about who we will be in Space.

Artist, geologist, professor, pilot, futurist, Black woman, Space poet, and Astronaut. Indeed, as Dr. Proctor’s Inspiration4 Spacesuit represents to us all with historically-imbued grace, self-possession, and inspiration, who we are in our unfolding futures in Space will undoubtedly be who we are on Earth.

“THERE IS NO PLANET B” — Dr. Sian Proctor in front of her custom SpaceX Launch-and-Entry Spacesuit, on display at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum’s new Futures in Space exhibition (photo: S. Proctor)

Smithsonian National Air & Space Futures in Exhibition opens July 28, 2025 at Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum, Washington, DC.