Back in Episode 42, Quinn & Brian asked: What happens when you’re almost an astronaut... and what comes next?

Our guest is Dr. Sian Proctor, an explorer, scientist, full-time professor, STEM communicator, and almost an astronaut. She joins the show to tell us how we can all help get more women and more people of color into space, one way or another. If you didn’t know — and we weren’t sure — being a white, male military pilot isn’t the only way to get to space! You can be exposed to radiation and get superpowers, become an (evil?) genius who starts their own electric car and space flight companies, or become a college-educated engineer, biologist, physical scientist, computer scientist, or mathematician. So we’re still out, but that’s a pretty wide range of qualifications.

This episode is also extremely timely given what’s going on in the United States right now. This is not just the story of almost becoming an astronaut but the story of navigating a historically white and male space as a woman of color. Dr. Proctor is one hell of an inspiration and scientist — and a whole lot of fun — and we hope you are able to find a ray of light in this conversation.

Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to [email protected]

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INI Book Club:

• A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
• INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-club

Links:

• sianproctor.com
• Want to be an astronaut too? Check out astronauts.nasa.gov/content/broch00.htm
• Scared of space but still want to be an astronaut? Check out analogastronaut.com
• Facebook: facebook.com/Dr.Sian.Proctor
• Instagram: @sian.proctor
• Twitter: @sianproctor
• Watch Dr. Proctor on Strange Evidence: sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/strange-evidence/

Connect with us:

• Subscribe to our newsletter at newsletter.importantnotimportant.com
• Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ImportantNotImp
• Follow Quinn: twitter.com/quinnemmett
• Follow Brian: twitter.com/beansaight
• Like and share us on Facebook: facebook.com/ImportantNotImportant
• Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com
• Artwork by Amrit Pal

Important, Not Important is produced by Crate Media