EP #5 Becoming the First Black Female Space Pilot w/ Dr. Sian Proctor

In this episode, Peter and Dr. Sian Proctor discuss what it's like piloting a space mission and the purpose of life. You will learn about: What it's like to be a space pilot How many purposes can we have in our life? The power of curiosity Dr. Sian Proctor is a commercial astronaut, geology professor, scientist, and poet. She became the first black woman to pilot a spacecraft when she was selected for the “Prosperity” seat alongside the Crew Dragon space capsule. Take a look at Dr. Proctor’s art & winning poem:https://myspace2inspire.com/ This episode is brought to you by Levels: real-time feedback on how diet impacts your health. levels.link/peter Consider a journey to optimize your mind and body by visiting Life Force. Listen to Moonshots & Mindsets on: Diamandis.com/podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:02Speaker 00

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• 0:30Speaker 01

  Think about a full moon rising and when you step outside and you see that full moon and you're being bathed in moonlight, how it makes you feel. I mean, we have love songs and myth and, you know, and poetry and, you know, all of these things about being moonstruck by moonlight. And the earth is a thousand times more beautiful, more brilliant than moonlight.

• 0:57Peter Diamandis?

  And a massive transformative purpose is what you're telling the world. It's like, this is who I am, this is what I'm gonna do, this is the dent I'm gonna make in the universe.

• 1:10Peter Diamandis?

  Welcome to the Mindsets and Moonshots Podcast. Today, I am very excited to be welcoming a friend, an astronaut, a scientist, an incredible woman, Dr. Cyan Proctor. She's a geoscientist, a science communicator, an artist, an entrepreneur, and a commercial astronaut. And Dr. Proctor made history last year when she became the first African-American woman to pilot a spacecraft. I was actually at her launch and it was awesome. As pilot of Inspiration 4, she is the first pilot of an all-civilian mission as well to take orbit around the earth on a Falcon 9 operated by SpaceX. Her motto is called "Space to Inspire," where she encourages people to use their unique,

• 1:55Peter Diamandis?

  one-of-a-kind strengths and passion to inspire those within their reach and beyond, which she most certainly has done. She's also one of the Explorers Club's 50 people changing the world. A lot more bio that we'll get into. Cyan, it's a pleasure to have you here. Thank you.

• 2:11Speaker 01

  Thanks for having me, Peter.

• 2:13Peter Diamandis?

  Yeah, no, I remember being at your launch and just, just the, it was awe inspiring, not just for the mission itself, but for how the mission came together, what each member of this mission of four outstanding individuals represented. And we've got a lot to talk about.

• 2:37Peter Diamandis?

  We're here to inspire people. We're here to talk about the mindsets that got you to space and somewhat about your moonshot. So, you know, let's just begin with a little bit about you. If you don't mind, tell us about young Cyan, growing up. Where'd you grow up? How did you get interested in space? When did that space interest begin? What were the seeds planted there?

• 3:02Speaker 01

  Well, Peter, I have been chasing space literally my entire life. I was born on the island of Guam because my dad was working at the NASA tracking station during the Apollo missions. So my family was on Guam from 1966 to 1970. So they were there for the Apollo 11 moon landing. And I was born eight and a half months after Neil Armstrong took those famous first steps. So I am a moon celebration baby.

• 3:36Speaker 01

  You know, and my, my family, we, my dad left working in the space industry a few months after I was born. And we moved to Minnesota and my life in snow began. But I grew up with NASA memorabilia on my dad's office wall, including this autograph from Neil Armstrong that my dad got because after the Apollo 11 astronauts returned home, they did a worldwide tour of all the tracking stations that helped, that helped with that. And so when Neil Armstrong came, my dad was there and, and thanked my dad for all his help. And that became a family heirloom.

• 4:20Speaker 01

  And so I was inspired as a, as a young kid, I, I mean, I loved aviation and airplanes, particularly military aircraft. And so.

• 4:30Speaker 01

  I was watching shows like Baba Black Sheep and building, you know, um, model airplanes. And I was in the Civil Air Patrol and I saw my ticket to the stars through the military. You know, you, you go to the Air Force Academy, you become an F-16 fighter pilot, and then you become the shuttle pilot, right? How hard could that be? But, you know, like a lot of us who have that dream of one day being an astronaut, it slips away while we're, you know, um, moving towards adulthood. And so for me, I got glasses when I was about 15. And back then you could not um, be a military aviator if you didn't have 2020 vision.

• 5:14Speaker 01

  So I was just like, well, I'm never gonna go to the Air Force Academy. I'm never gonna fly, so I'll never be an astronaut. You know, that was the narrative in my head. And so I went off and I became a geoscientist. Um, and I, I got my undergrad in environmental science. I got my masters in geology and I got my PhD in science education. And I began teaching at the local community college in Phoenix, Arizona, because I went to Arizona State University. And I was traveling around the world and doing, you know, outreach and geoscience and all of those things. And then one day, everything changed when somebody said, hey, NASA's looking for astronauts. You should apply.

• 5:53Peter Diamandis?

  Well, uh, uh, I'm worried to go deep in there. Hey, thanks for listening to Moon Shots and Mindsets. I want to take a second to tell you about a company that I love. It's called Levels and it helps me be responsible for the food that I eat, what I bring into my body. See, we were never designed as humans to eat as much sugar as we do. And sugar is not good for your brain or your heart or your body in general. Levels helps me monitor the impact of the foods that I eat by monitoring my blood sugar. For example, I learned that if I dip my bread in olive oil, it blunts my glycemic response, which is good for my health. If you're interested, learn more by going to levels.link backslash Peter. Levels will give you an extra two months of membership.

• 6:36Peter Diamandis?

  It's something that is critical for the future of your longevity. All right, let's get back to the conversation in the episode. But let's take it back to your childhood, because a lot of, a lot of people, a lot of kids,

• 6:48Peter Diamandis?

  either have a environment of growing up that is filled with inspiration or they don't. And um, and I know, I mean, it's interesting, right? My, my world was my dad was a doctor and it was medical memorabilia all around. It was sort of expected to become a doctor. But it was the Apollo program and Star Trek that lit my fuse. And I sort of split my, my loyalty between my family and, and the higher calling of space. How, uh, was there any pressure from your family to go into aviation or space? Was that, um, was that self-induced along the way?

• 7:25Speaker 01

  Um, you know, what's interesting is neither of my parents had college degrees. And so, but my dad was, you know, like a hidden figure. He was good at math. He was able to, you know, bootstrap his way um, into NASA and, and help contribute and all of those things. So from both of my parents, they saw particularly my father, education as the way to opportunity. And so my dad was very keen on me and my siblings going to college and getting a degree in STEM, science, technology, engineering and math. You know, a- a- anything else, you know, the arts or something or business. My dad was like, mm, no, you need to get a STEM degree.

• 8:07Speaker 01

  Um, and, and so luckily, um, I was always out, um, curious about the world. My dad encouraged me to be an explorer. He supported my love of aviation because that, my parents were like, we don't know where, you know, you want to be a fighter pilot, we don't know where this came from, but you know, we're gonna support that. And, uh, and they never, what I give my parents credit for, particularly my dad, is that he never told me I couldn't do it. I mean, back in the seventies and eighties, there were no female fighter pilots. It wasn't allowed in the United States. It wasn't until the nineties that women could fly fighter jets in combat and do all of these other kinds of things.

• 8:50Speaker 01

  Um, and there were no black female astronauts. And my dad never said, you know, hey, by the way, do you know that there's no black female astronauts? No role models out there. But I had, like you, Star Trek Lieutenant O'Hara. And I saw her in the cell nickels and I was like, wow, I can be her. I can track across the universe. Boldly go, you know?

• 9:13Peter Diamandis?

  Yes.

• 9:13Speaker 01

  And um, and my dad watched Star Trek with me. We watched every episode of The Next Generation together. Um, and he just supported my love of being an explorer and um, and wanting to try new things. But he did, he did worry that I would never like um, go down the rabbit hall, rabbit hole and become, you know, a master of something. And I do know that.

• 9:39Peter Diamandis?

  Interesting. Yeah, let's take a second just to the parents out there listening. Uh, advice uh, to those parents to ins- inspire their kids, you know, because it's it's tricky. If you push your kids too hard, they can rebel. And um, but is is the piece of advice you're saying uh, to support their native um, uh, dreams and not tell them that something's impossible? Is there anything else you want to add to those those parents?

• 10:07Speaker 01

  No, I definitely think that it is about um, letting your your kid, um, your child just have that imagination and um, and and believe that they can do whatever it is that they want to do. And I, and a great example of this is, you know, I'm, I I'm running around, I'm a, I'm a tomboy, I'm playing in the woods and I, and it's night, early eighties, and the movie Rambo comes out. And I'm like, oh, my goodness, Dad, I want a Rambo knife. My dad did not even hesitate. He bought me this Rambo knife. And now, if you all know Rambo, this is like a 12 inch knife with a compass on the end, you know, and here's, I am a 10 year old running around the woods with this giant knife. Um, but my dad was

• 10:50Speaker 01

  like, you know, if if this is something that you're interested in, we will try to figure it out and uh, and do it safely, hopefully, uh, but figure out uh, these curiosities. And uh, and I I love that. My mom was a little bit more cautious. She kind of wanted me to wear the dresses and, you know, I wanted to play ice hockey on the pond with the other kids and I had to do it in figure skates versus hockey skates. But uh, uh, so there was some compromise there.

• 11:21Peter Diamandis?

  And and let's take the other side of the equation for kids who are in high school or early college and they, their parents don't understand their passion.

• 11:31Peter Diamandis?

  Um, and how do you, how do you advise them? Because in their, you know, a lot of, a lot of us, and I went to medical school to make my parents happy. Um, I'm happy I did, but that was the drive. It wasn't because it was inherently what I wanted to do at the time. What's your advice to, uh, to young adults, uh, who are sort of at odds with what their parents want them to do?

• 11:56Speaker 01

  You know, and, and that's really tricky because you want to, you know, um, fulfill those, those wishes of your parents. And, you know, I was the same way with my dad wanting me to become a scientist. Uh, I, and I think the thing is that, um, it's, it's not easy, but there are allies out there for you to find, people who are passionate about the things that you love to do. And, you know, it was a compromise with my dad. Um, I was really into movies and acting and theater. And, um, and so, and I remember when I told him, well, I don't want to go off to, you know, California and become an actress. And he was like, yeah, that's not happening. Um, and, but on the other hand, he supported me by doing theater.

• 12:41Speaker 01

  And, you know, he's like, if you go off to college and you, you get a degree in science, you can take all of these electives that are in theater and stuff, and you can still find that community and be a part of it. And so a lot of times we have to straddle two, two loves or two communities. And, and, and the thing is, um, um, society expects us to pick and say, you need to be this and, and, and put labels on stuff. But humans are conglomerates. We have lots of different interests and we have lots of different passions. Um, and, and you can have that. You just got to be able to understand how to better time manage your, your interests and your loves.

• 13:23Speaker 01

  And I think that we don't put enough emphasis for, you know, young adults on how to successfully manage your energy, right? Um, and, and how you, uh, apply your mental and physical and emotional energy in different areas, um, in a very healthy way.

• 13:42Peter Diamandis?

  I, I love that. Let's move forward now. So you've got this spark for science and, and space and aviation.

• 13:52Peter Diamandis?

  Um, when did it transition from a uh like a general uh passion to a purpose for you? When did it, when did that that inflection point occur? And then connect that point to your being an orbiter on the earth? Cause that's a beautiful journey.

• 14:10Speaker 01

  Well, you know, um, it it, when I went to grad school, I didn't know what I wanted to do. Like a lot of people, my dad passed away when I was nineteen and he was a big um point of inspiration for me. And and I was lost during my undergrad. Um, I was just kind of going through the motions. Um, and I, when I graduated, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I had a degree in environmental science and I moved back home with my mom in upstate New York. And I became a video editor for the the news because I had done these television production and theater. So I ended up um doing the news as an editor. And then um, one day I woke up and said, I'm gonna move out west and marry a cowboy.

• 14:55Speaker 01

  And I'm going to do that by going to grad school. Yep, that's exactly what I told myself. And I applied to grad school and I went to Arizona State University. And I didn't know what I wanted to do. I just said, I'm gonna, you know, um, go into hy- hydrology. And uh, and then the first week I arrived, they made me a teaching assistant. And they gave me, you know, my lab manual and my schedule. And they said, here, you're gonna go teach these lab classes. And I was like, I don't even have a degree in geology. Okay, you want me to go into this classroom and teach? And I walked in and immediately I fell in love with teaching. And and I knew right then that I wanted to be a college professor and I was gonna figure out how to do that.

• 15:39Peter Diamandis?

  Let me, let me, let me pause there one second, cause that's a really fascinating situation. That um, that uh, the idea that uh, trying new things, even if you don't know that they're gonna be interesting, like they're scary or whatever, you don't act, you didn't actually know, but when you tried it, it it like, it fit.

• 15:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, I had no idea what I was doing. And that's one of the reasons why um I try to tell young people, even you know, seasoned adults uh like ourselves, that you know, don't be afraid to try new things. And you know, school is a great way to try things out, um to take classes. When you don't know what you want to do, going back to school opens up opportunities for you to explore different things um in in in a relatively low risk environment, particularly going to like a community college where you know, the costs to take classes and and to get become part of a community um isn't that as much of a burden. And and so I that's why I went

• 16:44Speaker 01

  moved out west and went to grad school. I was like, I gotta find myself and I could take these classes. But walking into the classroom and it was like lightning striking. And I was like, wow, I can do this.

• 16:59Peter Diamandis?

  Amazing. I love that. So what happens next?

• 17:02Speaker 01

  So I become a college professor and I am loving it. I I I'm traveling around the world. Um, you know, as a geoscientist explorer, bringing back things to my classroom. I finally, I got my PhD in science education and I um I got my pilot's license. I got SCUBA certified, you know, um just fully invested in exploring our world. And then one day, um it I was thirty eight, um turning thirty nine, a friend sent me an email saying NASA's looking for astronauts. You should apply. And all of a sudden, you know, this childhood dream manifests back to me. And I'm like, you know, the first thing in my head was like, um, I'm just a college professor in

• 17:45Speaker 01

  Phoenix, Arizona. They're never gonna pick me. But my curiosity and my nature of exploring, I opened up the link, figured out, wow, I'm actually qualified. You know, NASA was looking for somebody who was highly educated, had and you got extra points if you're SCUBA certified, if you had your pilot's license, if you had cultural experience and spoke Russian. And the only thing that I didn't have Was a Russian and I got up the courage to apply. And the next thing I know, I went through the two thousand nine selection process all the way down to the yes, no phone call. And so I was from thousands and thousands of people, I ended up one of the forty seven finalists that year.

• 18:27Speaker 01

  And they they chose nine people and it was a no. And um you can imagine how devastating that was to get that.

• 18:35Peter Diamandis?

  What year, what year is this?

• 18:36Speaker 01

  This was, this was two thousand and nine and I was thirty nine years old. And so you can imagine I how devastated I was to get so close to that childhood dream. And it be a no and um that imposter syndrome voice picked up and said, you know, oh, they found out you're not qualified, you're not good enough. And so I started to change my entire entire like mindset. I said, okay, I will go back to school and I literally I enrolled in the University of North Dakota's um for a master's in space studies. And then I told myself I would get my advanced scuba, I would get my commercial pilot's license.

• 19:17Speaker 01

  And I just started like um really tearing myself inside out to fit what I thought NASA was looking for. Um and then I stopped and said, what am I doing? I'm I'm driving myself crazy. Um and instead of seeing that no as a negative, I mentally had to change that to a positive. And I said, you know what? I'm gonna celebrate that I was almost a NASA astronaut. And when I did that, I said, look, I was almost a NASA astronaut because of the life I was living. So I'm gonna go back to living that life as an explorer and an adventurer. And I and I dropped all of that and I went back to my normal life.

• 20:02Speaker 01

  And I became an analog astronaut, somebody who lives in moon and Mars simulations for months at a time. And that's how I moved forward past that.

• 20:11Peter Diamandis?

  So I love this. First of all, the voice in your head, the imposter syndrome is very powerful and it can devastate you. And it's so important to to recognize that and to, you know, to squelch that.

• 20:27Peter Diamandis?

  And for people who have that, who have a big dream, but their internal saying, oh, you know, you're never gonna make it. This is not, you know, you're you're faking it and so forth. What's any advice for overcoming that imposter syndrome?

• 20:42Speaker 01

  Yes, you know, I have suffered from imposter syndrome my entire life. It's not something that goes away. But you learn tricks to be able to combat it so that you can move forward in a healthy, productive way. And for me, it's, you know, my dad's voice kind of comes back into play and, you know, what would my dad say? He would say, don't talk yourself out of opportunity. Let somebody else determine whether or not you're qualified. You know, go for it, you know, put your name out there. And so a lot of times when that voice creeps in, you know, I take a pause and and I have this conversation with it like, okay, where's this coming from? Because norm, most of the time it's fear based. You know, you don't want to get hurt in some way. You don't, you know, you're worried about the risk that's involved.

• 21:26Speaker 01

  But when you start to rationalize what the risk is, and for me with the 2009 astronaut selection process, I told myself, you know, well, what the heck do I have to lose? If if it's a no in the end, you know, I'm still back where I was before. I'm not losing anything. Even though it was devastating to have that no come and that voice rear up again, just to get me to apply. I had to have that conversation. And then, once I got that no convers, that no, that voice reared up again, and I had to, you know, go through that situation of, you know, trying to get out of that rabbit hole. Because I spiraled down that rabbit hole because of that no, and I clawed my way back out

• 22:11Speaker 01

  by reframing, you know, the hurt that came from that no into a positive.

• 22:18Peter Diamandis?

  So beautiful. Let's continue your journey. So it's 2009. You almost become an astronaut, which is a heck of an achievement. I don't think people realize. Your chances, I mean, I did the math when I was in medical school and never applied. Because it's like, there's just no way. And so I stopped myself right then, but you know, I I took that and flipped it into I'm gonna invest my. Time and energy into driving commercial space to open up and that led to XPRIZE and the other companies. But and so it's how do you it's you flip that as well. And I just want to give people that that sort of Jedi mind trick, if you would.

• 22:59Speaker 01

  Yes, the ability to flip. And so, once I did, you know, that mental jag jog to the left, right, that was needed, then the next thing that came along was in 2013, there was an announcement that NASA, you know, they were looking for this NASA funded mission to go live in the high seas habitat as the first crew for four months to investigate food strategies for long duration spaceflight. And I thought, you know, if I can't, you know, be an astronaut out, you know, among the stars, I can at least advance human spaceflight here on Earth. So I applied and I got selected. And so I was part of the very first crew

• 23:43Speaker 01

  to live in the high seas habitat. And it was for four months.

• 23:47Peter Diamandis?

  This was an underwater or on the water?

• 23:50Speaker 01

  This was on land on the big island of Hawaii. And it sits about 8,000 feet. And it was this new analog site that was funded by money from NASA. And, and so because of that, I fell in love with being an analog astronaut. And so I lived in the high seas habitat. We lived in Mars Desert Research Station, Lunares Habitat. And so I was doing these things. Now, what's interesting is that by the time 2019 comes along, and NASA puts out a call for astronauts again. And now I'm 49 years old. And, you know, my friends are like NASA's looking for astronauts again. Are you gonna apply? Are you gonna apply?

• 24:34Speaker 01

  And as you become seasoned, you know, a little bit older, your chances of becoming selected as a NASA astronaut dwindle, particularly as a female. And I was like, no, I don't think I'm gonna make it as a NASA astronaut anymore. But one day, maybe commercial spaceflight. Uh, I never gave up hope. And I was, I would say it kind of jokingly, like, oh, well, maybe one day, you know, commercial spaceflight. I will be able to go and uh, achieve this dream, not realizing it was literally around the corner.

• 25:08Peter Diamandis?

  Yes, yes. Not get, you know, there's a, there's a great saying, and I'm gonna butcher it, which is, you know, uh, luck is being prepared and lasting long enough.

• 25:20Speaker 01

  It sure is. And, you know, and I definitely had that, that idea of um, preparation and persistence. You know, um, along with hope. Uh, and so having preparation by, you know, becoming a geoscientist and education and analog astronaut, and just always trying to look for new opportunity to advance myself. And then um, uh, perseverance, you know, uh, when you get the no's, being able to have that grit and determination to move forward.

• 25:50Peter Diamandis?

  Yes, Martine Rothblatt, who's a dear friend.

• 25:52Speaker 01

  I love Martine.

• 25:54Peter Diamandis?

  Yeah, she's awesome.

• 25:55Speaker 01

  We're good, we're friends.

• 25:56Peter Diamandis?

  Yeah, and, and one of her, her sayings that I, I love is, you know, every no is a step closer to yes.

• 26:01Speaker 01

  I have great friends because they always find opportunity and send it my way because they know I will apply.

• 26:07Peter Diamandis?

  One of the advantages of letting the world know what your moonshot is. One of the advantages of letting your friends and family know secretly what's in your heart, what you desire more than anything else in the world, is you create an army of scouts out there looking for things that can support you. So just, I want everybody to remember that.

• 26:27Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. I, I, I talked to a lot of kids about what I call science of opportunity, how to manifest opportunity. And it is absolutely what you just said. People need to know what you're passionate about, um, so that when that opportunity comes, they think of you. And so for the NASA astronaut selection process, somebody sent it to me. The high seas habitat, somebody sent it to me. Um, and the same with the Inspiration Four mission. It was announced during the Super Bowl that they were looking for people to be a part of the All Civilian Mission to Orbit. And I don't have a TV, so I didn't watch the Super Bowl. But boy, I can tell you, my friends were on it.

• 27:10Speaker 01

  They're like, you know, you gotta donate to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. You can win a seat to space. And so I looked it up and I was like, oh, okay, there's this generosity seat. And so I donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital because Inspiration Four's main goal was to do the largest fundraiser in St. Jude's history, which was $200 million raised. And so I donated, but then I was on Twitter and, you know, you can, people can love or hate Twitter, but boy, Twitter has opened up magical opportunities for me. And I noticed somebody posted a video about Inspiration Four and I was like, what? And, you know, they're talking about the prosperity seat and I'm like, there's another seat?

• 27:53Speaker 01

  And so I did some digging and sure enough, it wasn't just one seat, but there was two seats. And if you opened up a Shift Four shop, which was my commander Jared Isaacman's platform, and created a two-minute, 20-second Twitter video expressing why they should take you to space, you could win the prosperity seat. And, oh boy, there was some imposter syndrome in that, but I, because during COVID, I became a space artist. I decided that I was going to apply for the prosperity seat as an artist and a poet. And I created an original poem. Yeah, I created an original poem called My Space To Inspire, or Space To Inspire.

• 28:36Speaker 01

  And I read that as my entry as to why they should pick me. And I dropped the poem three days before the contest ended. Now, yeah, keep in mind, part of the contest rules was that you had to go viral. And one of the reasons why I had imposter syndrome was because I looked at who had entered and there were people with like, you know, a half a million followers. There was somebody that had like 5 million YouTube followers who submitted videos. I'm like, oh my goodness, I only have like 6,000 people following me on Twitter. And, but I put it on and in three days, boy, I rallied Twitter and I got 70,000 views in three days.

• 29:18Speaker 01

  And that was enough to get on the judges radar and then I, I won the prosperity seat.

• 29:24Peter Diamandis?

  How many, how many Twitter followers do you have now?

• 29:26Speaker 01

  I have, oh, good question, about seventy thousand Twitter followers now.

• 29:30Peter Diamandis?

  All right, so a ten X, that's great. So an amazing story. I love the fact that your friends and your community were the ones who sort of like came in and and and re-inspired you to go after that. It's beautiful. And the fact that you didn't go as a science educator, you didn't go as a scientist, you went in the realm of a poet and artist, completely different from what you had spent twenty years. And that's just continuous growth is awesome. Um, what was the inspiration for mission? You want to just talk a little about the frame of that and Jared?

• 30:04Speaker 01

  Yes, so my commander Jared Isaacman, amazing human being. Um, he's an adventurer, uh, and whenever he does something, uh, you know, that's unique, um, and uh, inspiring, he always, you know, attaches a charity to it. And so when he decided that he was going to do this all civilian mission to orbit, him and his team were really thoughtful about how to put it together. And so they they came up with this this idea of four pillars, um, because there's four seats on a dragon capsule. And so the four pillars are leadership and he took the leadership pillar

• 30:44Speaker 01

  as the commander and then you, you know, the the choice of um, charity is is St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. And he had the foresight to say, I want to fly a childhood cancer survivor to space. And um, and that we're going to call that the hope seat. You know, so what more does a child need who is going through battling cancer than hope? Hope for a better tomorrow. And that's how they found my crew member Haley Arsenal, childhood cancer survivor at the age of ten and loved St. Jude so much, she went on to become a physician assistant at St. Jude. So she works there right now, um, helping kids get through their cancer.

• 31:27Speaker 01

  Um, and so she got the hope seat. And then the other two were the giveaway seats, um, the generosity seats, where if you donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Your name could literally be pulled out of a hat. And then the prosperity seat where if you showed your entrepreneurial spirit and created that video expressing why they should choose you, you could win that seat. And the four of us came together in March of 2021. At the end, we announced, at the end of March 2021, we announced to the world that we were a crew and that we were going to space, literally not about six months later.

• 32:05Peter Diamandis?

  Incredible. That was just, just one of the most extraordinary missions. By the way, I did put in a large amount of donations as well for that generosity seed. But for people who don't know, St. Jude's is an extraordinary philanthropy. Other than X Prize, it is, and First Robotics, it's the philanthropy I, I, my family support the most. It goes to supporting the healthcare and treatment of children who've got cancer, who can't afford it. And what makes St. Jude's so special is when you, when you go there as a patient, you never get billed. It's all for free. And, yeah, please.

• 32:45Speaker 01

  I asked Jared once, you know, why, you know, why St. Jude? And, you know, and he was saying how, well, you know, he was debating between him and his team. Make a wish in St. Jude. And make a wishes for kids who are, you know, have been diagnosed with, you know, they're at the end stage of their cancer. And, and, and then, you know, and this is what I love about Jared is that he just is so thoughtful. And he thought to himself, well, if I can help end childhood cancer, then we don't need Make-A-Wish. And he said, you know, let's, let's end childhood cancer. And so he decided that he was going to put all of his effort toward that. And, and I just think how thoughtful that is.

• 33:26Speaker 01

  Because he could have just taken his friends, you know, he could have bought out the dragon capsule and said, I'm gonna fly my friends to space. But instead he said, this is a first, we're gonna do it right. And this is how I want to set up this legacy.

• 33:39Peter Diamandis?

  Yeah, I've known Jared for 20 years. I knew him when he was flying a Mustang around the world, a little, you know, four-seat aircraft. And he's brilliant. He's a sweetheart, man. Just a beautiful soul and very successful in the financial world, which gave him his capital. And he actually bought this mission. He paid for the entire private mission to orbit and then gave away the seats. You're right, you could have given them to his friends. You could have sold the seats. You could have done anything. But no, he's in service of humanity. Huge heart. Let's talk about the mission. When did it launch? How long were you up there? What was it like?

• 34:14Speaker 01

  Well, I gotta tell you, the day I found out that I won my seat, which was March 7th, I'm gonna be celebrating that every year for the rest of my life.

• 34:26Speaker 01

  Jared, you know, I got on a Zoom. I didn't know. And it was Jared and his, um, the mission director kid were on there. And I'm like, hi, Jared. And he's like, you know, and Jared doesn't feed around the bush. He's like, um, yeah, I want to let you know that, um, we picked a winner and it's you. And you know, that's the Willy Wonka moment. You're like, oh, my God, what? Um, and then the next thing out of Jared's mouth was basically, and you know, I think you should be my mission pilot. And I'm like, say what? I'm like, wait, wait, what? Um, and, uh, and it was this kind of like lightning strike twice moment where not only was I gonna be an astronaut, but I was also now going to be the pilot of the spacecraft. You know, those two dreams as a kid of being a pilot and an astronaut coming true in one stroke.

• 35:12Speaker 01

  And, um, and so the next six months I spent training. And then on September 15th, we launched into orbit for three days.

• 35:22Peter Diamandis?

  Amazing, amazing. How would it feel like? What was the ride on the Falcon 9 and Dragon like? Was it smooth? Was it rough?

• 35:31Speaker 01

  No, it was smooth, you know, and I was expecting like kind of what you see in the movies where they're, you know, kind of being jostled around a lot. But you know, Jared and I both had a task, you know, as a mission pilot. I was laser focused on my screens. Um, and making sure that the flight computer was doing what it was supposed to be doing and just giving Jared situational awareness. Um, just in case something went wrong. And I don't, you know, the screen wasn't shaking. I had no problems with like, you know, um, that ride, but a lot of times people are asking me like, well, what did it feel like? I'm like, well, I was so focused that, you know, I was like, cause I, I, I wanted to make sure that I did my job and I did it well, particularly as a black female in a first.

• 36:14Speaker 01

  You know, you want to make sure that, that you keep that door open, um, for those to follow behind you. And, um, but I can tell you the reentry back to earth. Man, that was a ride because, um, going up was pretty smooth. Nothing went wrong. Everything just, it, it, it happened just like we were trained in the simulator. Um, we actually joked because when we are going to simulator training, uh, which was very intense. Ninety nine percent of the time, we never did a normal one. There were always alerts and things going wrong because they wanted to make sure that we could be trained on any scenario. And the SpaceX team that's supporting us could also be trained for any scenario.

• 36:58Speaker 01

  So we do these simulations that are like in real time. Um, and neither the crew nor the, um, you know, mission control know whether or not there are going to be alerts going off. And so we, you know, we were always dealing with alerts. So to have one go, you know, go at our actual mission liftoff and go and make it to orbit with nothing going wrong. We're like, wow, this is great, you know? Um, but reentry back into, um, down to earth was wow. That is intense because you hit that, you hit the atmosphere like a bullet and you're used to being weightless. And I remember we got to about point three Gs and Harold goes, oh, what is this?

• 37:40Speaker 01

  And we felt the pressure on our chest because of that elephant starting to sit down on us and snuggle in. And by the time we got to a sustained six Gs, you know, your pressure breathing, you're going.

• 37:54Speaker 01

  Okay, this is cool.

• 37:55Peter Diamandis?

  Six Gs, six times the gravity of Earth on you.

• 37:59Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 37:59Peter Diamandis?

  It's like having, it's like having a six pound person on your chest.

• 38:04Speaker 01

  It is, and we, we were trained for it.

• 38:06Peter Diamandis?

  Yes.

• 38:07Speaker 01

  And, uh, and, and it just, uh, everything about that experience was magical and amazing. And I'm so filled with gratitude.

• 38:18Peter Diamandis?

  I, I'm so thankful that you went, cause it's a beautiful, it's, it's a beautiful model for uh, giving others hope for their dreams, right? It's, that's, it's everything. Um, I want, I don't want to spend too much more time on this, but I have to ask you, your top three moments in orbit and what was it like to be in the cupola and what was the cupola there, which I was excited about?

• 38:44Speaker 01

  Oh, you know, um, my top three moments are, um, well, it, it's definitely getting to the point where we were strapped in and ready to go. And I remember, you know, when we get down, because a, a mission can get scrubbed and a lot of times they do because of just various reasons and you're, you're strapped in and you're so excited and, um, everybody's watching and, uh, and it's counting down and you get to 10 minutes and you're like, hmm, I think we're gonna do this. You know, and then you get to two minutes and you're like, oh, right, we're gonna do this. And I was, people ask me, was I ever afraid? And I told them, no, because I, I was afraid that the, something would go wrong before I got the opportunity

• 39:29Speaker 01

  to go to space. Um, you know, it was COVID, we couldn't get COVID. We, I mean SpaceX literally said, you get sick during, you know, quarantine or COVID, we'll fly a sandbag in your spot. You're like, oh my God, they'll fly the sandbag. Um, and you can't get hurt and you have to qualify for the seat. Even though I won it, SpaceX was like, yeah, you won your seat, but you gotta qualify. If you don't qualify for the mission pilot seat, we're not gonna send you. You know, so there's all these stressors, um, that you have to get through. And then by the time we got down to that, you know, 10, three, two, one, I was so happy.

• 40:03Peter Diamandis?

  It was actually gonna happen.

• 40:05Speaker 01

  Yes, that we were lifting off. So that was one of my most joyous moments.

• 40:09Peter Diamandis?

  Yes.

• 40:10Speaker 01

  Um, uh, when we opened up the Ford hatch to the cupola. Um, and we'll talk about that in a minute, what that is. That was just the most beautiful, magical moment. And, um, absolute, that's my absolute favorite moment of the entire spaceflight. And then splashing down. Splashing down was my phoenix rising moment, my becoming moment. It was like, I did it. You can't take it away from me, you know, like.

• 40:39Peter Diamandis?

  Oh, it was beautiful.

• 40:40Speaker 01

  Just so happy that, um.

• 40:43Peter Diamandis?

  The hero's journey was, was complete.

• 40:45Speaker 01

  It was.

• 40:46Peter Diamandis?

  Yeah, so most human SpaceX missions have been going to the space station. Go to orbit, um, you dock with the space station and you go and you're inside the space station. Um, and this one was different.

• 41:03Peter Diamandis?

  And you had an added benefit of a, a large viewing port called the cupola. So explain that, please.

• 41:10Speaker 01

  Yes, you know, I, I love SpaceX because, um, they said, yeah, you're not docking to the International Space Station. We did what was called a free flyer mission. And they said, you know, since you're not docking, how would you like, uh, you know, a giant window at, you know, where you would normally dock to the International Space Station? Under the nose cone through what was, what's called the Ford hatch. And of course we're like, ah, yes, please create this giant window. And I gotta give them credit because in a very short amount of time, they, you know, created and, um, and space rated the cupola, which is a giant dome, um, window. So it's dome shaped and nothing but, um, a viewing portal.

• 41:51Speaker 01

  So you can slide up into it and have this amazing view of our planet. Um, and to give you some context, there's no orientation in space. Um, so you know, you, there's no up or down or anything, but our, our spacecraft was pointed down at the earth. So when you went up in the cupola sits at the top of our spacecraft. So in the cupola, the window was pointed down at our planet. Um, but for me. Um, because I was looking down, that was, that was up to me. So the earth was above me when I would slide into the cupola.

• 42:27Peter Diamandis?

  Yeah.

• 42:27Speaker 01

  And I, and I just remember us opening the forward hatch. And we just got flooded with earth light. Um, the reflected light from our beautiful gorgeous planet. And when we slid up there for the first time, I was one of the first people to go up there because I had to do this task. And I was just like, oh my goodness, this is amazing. You could see the entire circumference, the, the sphere of the earth. Because of the size of the window we were in and how high up we were. None of us expected that.

• 43:04Peter Diamandis?

  Arguably, you had a much better view of the earth than anyone on the space station did.

• 43:07Speaker 01

  Yes, because we were higher.

• 43:09Peter Diamandis?

  Yeah, and, and also the, uh, the large volume of the cupola allowed you to, to not just put your face up against a flat window. So you probably, you probably have the best view of any space astronaut other than those who went on a spacewalk. Um, that's awesome.

• 43:28Speaker 01

  That's absolutely true. And, you know, and I wasn't, you know, when we talk about the overview effect, um. What I wasn't prepared for, even though I'm a geoscientist and I know that the earth has a high reflectivity. I was not prepared for earth light. Oh my goodness. Wow.

• 43:45Peter Diamandis?

  There was a book written, a book written in nineteen eighties, uh, again, someone who I knew well, Frank White, who wrote a book called The Overview Effect. And, and Frank had gone and interviewed astronauts, uh, who'd been to space. And the commonality, independent if you were back then a Soviet cosmonaut or a European, uh, space astronaut it was seeing the earth without borders, it was spaceship earth, it was a, a beautiful sort of psychological impact. That one had. So that's what is called the overview effect and it's, uh, it's still persistent.

• 44:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, and I just wanna say that I think, you know, a big component of the overview effect, why we have trouble reproducing that here on earth when we show somebody a photo from that same vantage point. of our beautiful planet, they don't get that same sense. And I believe it's because of earth light. And the reason why, if you think about moonlight, think about a full moon rising. And when you step outside and you see that full moon and you're being bathed in moonlight, how it makes you feel. I mean, we have love songs and myth and, you know, and poetry and, you know, all of these things about being moonstruck by moonlight. And the earth is

• 44:59Speaker 01

  a thousand times more beautiful, more brilliant than moonlight. And when I was up there floating in the kubala and being bathed in moonlight, I mean, in earth light, it was transformative. And I think that there's a key there, just the way, you know, that reflected light impacts you in the psychology of that experience.

• 45:22Peter Diamandis?

  That's, that's gorgeous. Hey, everybody. I hope you're enjoying this episode. Let's tell you about something I've been doing for years. Every quarter or so, having a phlebotomist come to my home to draw bloods to understand what's going on inside my body. And it was a challenge to get all the right blood draws and all the right tests done. So I ended up co-founding a company that sends a phlebotomist to my home to measure forty different biomarkers every quarter, put them up on a dashboard so I can see what's in range, what's out of range, and then get the right supplements, medicines, peptides, hormones to optimize my health. It's something that I want for all my friends and family, and I'd love it for you. If you're interested,

• 46:03Peter Diamandis?

  go to mylifeworst.com backslash peter to learn more. Let's get back to the episode. I want to bring us back to our mindsets. How do you define the difference between a passion and a purpose, Cyan?

• 46:18Speaker 01

  You know, I think when it comes to your, something that you're passionate about, it's something that you enjoy doing, but it's not something that you're, you have an innate drive to have to fulfill. And, and, and I think purpose, when you find your Purpose, um, there is something that is deeper that is calling you to continuously come back to this, right? Um, that you're like, no, no, you know, because there's a lot of things that can distract you. There's a lot of, um, especially when it comes to passions and you learn new things and meet different people. You can have these passions that that pop up.

• 47:02Speaker 01

  Um, but purpose is persistent. Purpose is driven, um, and and when, you know, and a lot of times when we talk about finding our purpose. And and it was funny because the reason why I chose, and you can have purpose, I think, for different stages of your life. Um, I I believe when I walked into the classroom and I became, you know, I and I as a TA, I found purpose as a teacher and I followed that for twenty plus years. You know, educating people about geology and sustainability. Um, but when I, in twenty twenty during lockdown, when I became an artist and a poet,

• 47:44Speaker 01

  I found my authentic voice and I found a new form of purpose. And that is one of the reasons why I chose actively to apply for the prosperity seat as an artist and a poet. Because it wasn't definitely not a sure bet, you know, especially since I was only an artist and a poet for a year.

• 48:07Peter Diamandis?

  Interesting.

• 48:08Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:09Peter Diamandis?

  But that's that that level of authenticity is a really powerful message here. Because you could have tried to fake it as a scientist or would as some other field that had a higher probability. Because I agree.

• 48:23Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 48:23Peter Diamandis?

  Applying for uh, for that seat on the Inspiration Four mission as a artist and a poet, where you've been that for just a short period of time, would have been a much riskier bet, but it was authentically you.

• 48:35Speaker 01

  It was absolutely authentically me. Um, you know, at fifty, I found my voice. I was labeled early as not a good writer, you know, and that um, and that has kind of been a a psychological barrier. Uh, and um, and then, you know, and I, and, and you know, as kids, you get tracked as, you know, your STEM or your arts. And, you know, and so early on, I got tracked to the STEM side, but I was always looking at the people at the art side and just thinking, oh, I have no talent. I'm not, I, I, I can't do art. I'm not an artist. I can't do any of that. And you get these labels that you put on yourself. And then being in COVID, we found ourselves in a very stressful situation, living at home.

• 49:19Speaker 01

  I was going through, my marriage was breaking up and um, and you know, there was all this uncertainty. And some people turned to baking and others to cooking and others to, you know, musical instruments and stuff. And I decided that, you know, I wanted to spread joy to people and I was sending out postcards of scientists. And somebody said, well, where's your postcard? I want to see your original art. And I said, in my head, I'm like, I'm not an artist. And then I thought, or am I? And so I started off easy with collage art. Because I was like, well, I can't paint or draw. I will cut things out and stick them together and make pretty things. And I did, and people loved it. So then I thought, oh, well, maybe I can paint.

• 50:01Speaker 01

  And so then I started painting and then I started um, doing, you know, um, line drawings and it, and as I did that and shared, shared this with the people around me and got feedback and, and love and support. Um, that's what, you know, and, and my art goes with poetry. When I do a piece, I write a poem about it. And, and that just fueled me and I was like, this is the happiest I've ever been. I got into flow. When I did art, I reached flow states where hours would just pass and I'd just be so um, happy and just um, just within at the, the moment and um,

• 50:44Speaker 01

  And I I've just loved it ever since.

• 50:46Peter Diamandis?

  So when you're when you're guiding someone to find their purpose, uh, one hint then, first of all, what we just summarize is like, is it authentic for you?

• 50:56Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 50:56Peter Diamandis?

  And the second thing is, you know, do hours pass? Are you in flow? Is it joyous and effortless? Those are the hints that you found your purpose?

• 51:05Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah, absolutely. You know, I found myself just, and it and I wasn't creating art and um, and poetry for others. I was creating it for myself. I was finding so much joy in the um, the exploration. You know, when we talk about being explorers, you know, we often talk about exploration for humanity, discovering something new for humanity, but exploration is really personal. It's about discovering something new for yourself. And and I was in such joy at the explorative explorative process of learning about art and poetry um, and and then being able to express things that I couldn't say for twenty years as a black female, feeling, you know, um, that I couldn't,

• 51:50Speaker 01

  you know, express myself properly for fear of lashback and rejection and all of these things. Um, and then I could, but I could express that through art and poetry. So it was this new kind of like breath of fresh air to let out all of these things that I've been thinking about um, in this new creative way.

• 52:12Peter Diamandis?

  I want to hit on something that uh, you said earlier and talk about a curiosity mindset for a moment. Um, you know, I want to go back to the conversation around you entering the classroom as a TA and and heading towards a professorship and discovering that purpose that you would not have otherwise discovered had you not been thrust into that situation. And then discovering your your passion turned purpose in art because of the COVID lockdown.

• 52:48Peter Diamandis?

  I want to hear your thoughts around having a curiosity mindset and how that curiosity mindset can lead towards discovery of purpose.

• 52:57Speaker 01

  Oh, I believe that wholeheartedly. Um, you know, when you have a curiosity mindset, what it does is it enables you to get past the fear. The curiosity overcomes the no, I can't do this. Because, you know, um, and, and those examples are when they handed me that, that, um, lab book and my schedule and said, yeah, you, you're gonna go teach. And I didn't, I didn't even have a degree in geology. I'm like, wait, well, you know, I only took one class in geology, right? Um, and I was like, uh, okay, okay. But I was curious enough and, uh, to be able to go and say, okay, I'm gonna figure this out.

• 53:38Speaker 01

  Because curiosity is about figuring out things that are happening around you or things or challenges that you have to take on. And, and so I was like, okay, I'm gonna figure this out. And then when it came to, you know, but that's, that's a situation I was thrust into. And, and to some extent, um, you know, I also put myself in the position to be thrust into that by applying to grad school and, you know, wanting to be, you know, the funding to be able to afford it and all of those things. And, and then COVID, uh, you know, COVID, none of us had this, this choice. But we had to, you know, you had to figure out how, what is your coping mechanism?

• 54:23Speaker 01

  And, um, and opening up that, again, that curiosity box and saying, okay, you know, let's try something new here. What is it? What am I feeling? What's calling me? You know, um, and, and being able to embrace that and, um, move forward with that curiosity. And a lot of people, it's like Alice in, in Wonderland. A lot of people like, well, why would you go down the rabbit hole, you know? Or, or Neo, are you gonna take the red pill or the blue pill? You know? Uh, and a lot of us have that safety mechanism of that fear of change or the unknown. But boy, curiosity has opened up so many doors for me. Go down the rabbit hole.

• 55:05Peter Diamandis?

  I love that. I love that message. You know, the opposite, just to, to structure it, is if you don't embrace your curiosity mindset, if you don't take risk. What's the result of that?

• 55:16Speaker 01

  Oh, it, you know, I think you will end up with a lot of um sadness and regret. And I've seen it, you know, um particularly as you get older and you see um friends or family members um who, you know, may be suffering in some ways with depression um and um kind of that loss, you know? They they retire after a career that's been, you know, doing kind of the same thing for thirty years. And in and they have this kind of like loss because you say, well, what are you gonna do in retirement? And they're just kind of like, well, I I don't know, you know, um because along the way, you know, that childhood curiosity of diving in has kind of been faded or or beaten out of them.

• 56:00Speaker 01

  Um and and their ability to imagine possibilities are no longer there. And and and it just makes me so sad um when I see that. Uh and that's why, you know, you try to get kids to invest in lifelong learning. And that curiosity never ends. Um you know, it's from it's from cradle to grave.

• 56:21Peter Diamandis?

  Yeah, I I let's let me put an exclamation point on that. You know, the curiosity mindset is valid through the entirety of your life. And it, I think, is tied to being alive. If you stop being curious, if you stop asking why, if you stop trying new things, if you stop growing, then it's a message to the universe to stop life.

• 56:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, you know, I and and our world is so amazing in so many ways.

• 56:47Peter Diamandis?

  Amen. Yes, people, wake up. This is the most extraordinary time ever to be alive.

• 56:52Speaker 01

  It is. I mean, it is a, it is literally a Willy Wonka. Um our our Starship Earth is a a magical experience all around you every single day. And, you know, and again, I I I just can't express enough to anybody that's listening that exploration and curiosity doesn't have to be for others. It's for you and your own discovery and your own joy.

• 57:19Peter Diamandis?

  I had a conversation with another great, amazing writer and podcaster, Tim Urban, who, he said, you know, taking risk is, is critical for finding your purpose, right? And he said beautifully here, where passions come and go, they take you in different directions, but when you find your purpose, you lock in. And if you're not exploring and you're stuck in the experiences you have, then how could you possibly find something else, right? So it's the, it's that curiosity that says, let me try that, and try that, and try that. And it's interesting, right? You might never, you think you know what you want to do, but you're locked into the

• 58:03Peter Diamandis?

  experiences you have until you try a multitude, and then, oh my God, this is really fun. I never thought of myself as a teacher, or an artist, or an astronaut, which you have for many years, but that's awesome.

• 58:15Speaker 01

  Well, I gotta say, you know, one of the things that we don't talk about too, when we're, when we're willing to take risk and opportunity, is the ripple effect.

• 58:27Peter Diamandis?

  Talk about that.

• 58:28Speaker 01

  Because, boy, boy, I tell you, I, I am blown away by how I will take that risk, and I will try something new, and as a result, it creates this new ripple of opportunity that I never would have imagined. You know, it opens up new, you know, I meet new people, and as a result of meeting new people, I find out about new things, and then when I find out about new things, I get new opportunities, and suddenly, I am just like in this whole new realm, and you're just like, wow, how did I get here? And, and, but there, there are the breadcrumbs, and each of those breadcrumbs, it's literally like throwing a rock into a, a pond, you know, except for you throwing it out to the

• 59:11Speaker 01

  universe, and there literally is a vibrational ripple impact that goes out and pops up all of these new opportunities as a result of that first, you know, step into exploration and, you know, curiosity and doing something new.

• 59:29Peter Diamandis?

  Yeah, that's, that's beautifully put. Do you have a way of describing your purpose today?

• 59:36Speaker 01

  Yes, you know.

• 59:37Peter Diamandis?

  Tell me, what is that?

• 59:38Speaker 01

  I I've been a geoscientist. I've been in love with our planet, you know, my entire life. I I love looking at maps as a kid and trying to figure out where I am and, you know, just exploring the skies above and the ocean below and and the land. And and but I'm very passionate about how we come together and create, you know, what I call a Jedi space, just equitable, diverse and inclusive space for all of humanity. And and when I think about what unites us, because I, you know, I have this social idea of a Jedi space, but then as a scientist, looking at, you know,

• 1:00:20Speaker 01

  climate change and some of the wicked problems that we have, you know, and how do I unite us? And how do I, you know, take this experience of, you know, seeing our planet from this perspective? And and then I decided that, you know, we're united under one sky and one by one ocean. So I'm starting a nonprofit called One Sky, One Ocean. And it's to bring awareness and build community around that idea that we are connected by what we're doing when we look out to the stars and what we're doing and how we're solve as solving for space also solves for Earth. And then, you know, when we're thinking about solving for Earth,

• 1:01:03Speaker 01

  you know, the number one thing is that we live on a water world and our oceans are precious. And our hydrologic cycle is the engine that drives, you know, pretty much everything on our planet. And so I want to bring that message to the world.

• 1:01:21Peter Diamandis?

  Yes, and let me just, I want to slow it down for folks. Jedi space is just equitable, diverse and inclusive. And It's, you know, that is you in so many ways. It is, it is beautiful. And yeah.

• 1:01:37Speaker 01

  Can I read my poem, my winning poem?

• 1:01:39Peter Diamandis?

  I would love to. I was, I was gonna leave that for the end, but we're close to it. So yes, I would love to hear your poem. And then wanting to hear where people can go to follow you on, on Twitter and get involved in what you're up to. Yes, please. I would love to. I'd be grateful for it.

• 1:01:54Speaker 01

  Um, this poem, um, won me my seat to space. And I gotta tell you, um, I was mulling over like, what am I going to do? How, well, you know, for my video to win the prosperity seat. And then in the middle of the night, it just kind of hit me that I wanted to write this poem and it just flowed out of me. And it's called Space to Inspire. You've got space. I've got space. We all have space to inspire. That's why we dream of going higher and higher. But what is space if you can't breathe? Let's stop sucking out the air of our humanity. We have a moment to seize the light, earth from space, both day and night.

• 1:02:39Speaker 01

  We have J for justice, to ignite the bold. We have E for equity, to cut past the old. We have D for diversity, to end the fight. We have I for inclusion, to try to make it right. A Jedi space to rally behind. A universal force so big, it binds. Inspiration to change the world. A new beginning for us to hold. It's not about you. It's not about me. It's about space to inspire for all of humanity. Science, technology, engineering and math, sending us out on the explorer's path.

• 1:03:19Speaker 01

  But don't forget the arts, the heartbeat of time. Consider sending a poet who knows how to rhyme. So let us drop the mic and close the capsule door, but please make sure Dr. Proctor's on board. My space to inspire is what we need. Inspiration for, for all of humanity.

• 1:03:40Peter Diamandis?

  Ah, it's beautiful.

• 1:03:42Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 1:03:43Peter Diamandis?

  Thank you for that. That it's, and when it's right, it's right. And when it flows and it's right, it flows out of you. It's effortless, right?

• 1:03:50Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 1:03:51Peter Diamandis?

  Inflow and it's effortless and. So beautiful. I love the path. It really is. I love the writings of Joseph Campbell.

• 1:04:03Peter Diamandis?

  And it's a hero's journey, facing your own fears and taking your own path against the odds, which makes it that much more exciting for everybody to follow.

• 1:04:15Peter Diamandis?

  If you were going to say you've had a moonshot and that you will have other moonshots in your life. I want to ask you about that. And then we're going to close out. I'm going to be asking you if you were going to have the ability to define an X Prize that was going to be funded. You know, a goal that the world should try and achieve, a measurable goal. I'm going to come back to that in a minute. Just giving you a little bit of advance warning. But your past moonshot, how would you define your last moonshot that you took? And where do you want to go next?

• 1:04:55Speaker 01

  You know, becoming

• 1:05:00Speaker 01

  an astronaut.

• 1:05:02Peter Diamandis?

  It's a moonshot itself.

• 1:05:03Speaker 01

  It's a moonshot. And and you know, it was one of those things where I felt driven, you know, like I said, I was chasing space my entire life. And to, and to help manifest that into a reality. And to do it in a way that, you know, I never would have imagined as a kid. It just, it makes it so special. And what I want people to know is that, you know, don't give up hope. You know, if you have these childhood dreams, don't give up hope.

• 1:05:41Speaker 01

  Even as a seasoned individual, you know, don't give up hope. Because, you know, live that life all the way to the end. Because you just don't know when that moonshot is going to be there for you to literally grab, hold up. And you've got to just keep moving forward towards that.

• 1:06:02Peter Diamandis?

  So if I could, just to, again, put an exclamation point on that. The things that would have had to have to come together to enable your mission, right? Elon. Building SpaceX and the Falcon 9 and the Dragon capsule and getting that human qualified and going to orbit and then offering it Jared Isaacman, being successful in his business and then having a heart of gold to open up and make seats available. Those two things were prerequisites in one sense and your passion, inspiration and your friend or friends telling you about the Inspiration 4 mission and that coming together.

• 1:06:42Peter Diamandis?

  So your being persistent on this dream and all those other things coming together led to that moonshot's fulfillment. But if you had given up, like most people probably would have, right? I'm getting too old, the background, the voice in your head. It's you have no idea the conspiracy of good stuff going on in the world coming together to enable your moonshot.

• 1:07:06Speaker 01

  Oh, that's so true. You know, and that's why I've always been looking, you know? I've always been looking for these opportunities for that reason. And I, and I think that that's one of the reasons why, you know, when we talk about that curiosity mindset and, and putting yourself out there and letting people know about your passions. And, you know, it's about being an active participant in our world in a good way, you know? And, and because good things come from that.

• 1:07:38Peter Diamandis?

  Yeah, beautiful. Is there a moonshot you're heading towards, something big and bold that you're, you know, scares you a little bit, but is worth dedicating the next decade to?

• 1:07:49Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 1:07:51Peter Diamandis?

  What is that?

• 1:07:52Speaker 01

  Well, it's, it's absolutely this idea of getting people to embrace a Jedi space, just equitable, diverse and inclusive space. You know, we're writing the narrative for Human Spaceflight right now. Jared did a great job of exemplifying, you know, what a Jedi space could look like. But I want people to understand, you know, that when I talk about Jedi space, it's not about outer space, it's about your space. I thought I have two models. One is space to inspire, which is your unique space. To inspire those within your reach and beyond, but how do you make that a Jedi space? How do you um think about, you know, creating a just equitable diverse inclusive space for yourself?

• 1:08:36Speaker 01

  And those around you, and I feel like that we can do this. And this could be measurable, particularly in the space industry. You know, the the space industry recently came out with a D I pledge. You know, um diversity, inclusion and you know. Um and I was like, whoa, you need to add that J in there because if you don't have the just part, you can recruit. Um women and people of color and people with disabilities, but i- into the workforce. Um into your company, but if in your company isn't just, then they won't stay. You will keep them for a year, maybe two, but the longevity of having them be a part of your organization will disappear. Because they will not feel like it's a just working environment.

• 1:09:21Speaker 01

  You know, and we're talking about things where, you know, sexual harassment doesn't occur. Um and and you know, and if it does, that there are just ways of dealing with those kinds of things and discrimination and stuff like that. That you have a platform that elevates you and um and your purpose. Uh and and we need that. And as we go to the moon Mars and beyond. You know, my moonshot would be that we make, you know, that we push the space industry. To to create a Jedi space and we can measure that. You know, how many people are we um, you know, allowing access to go to space?

• 1:10:01Speaker 01

  What are the demographics, you know, a when we're talking about um people who can afford to do it, you know? And I love the fact that Blue and Virgin have followed Jared's lead. And giving away seats to people or helping people win seats to space. People who would not normally get the opportunity.

• 1:10:26Peter Diamandis?

  It's a interesting point to reflect on is that in the next decade or two. We're going to be moving humanity off the planet irreversibly. And it's gonna happen once. And how we move off the planet matters.

• 1:10:40Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:10:41Peter Diamandis?

  Right, so it's uh. The future of humanities, language, laws, ethics,

• 1:10:51Peter Diamandis?

  diversity, all of that will will be set. You know, if it's one religion and one geologic or one political point of view that goes out and dominates, it'll be that, you know, in other words, if you think about even as we're here in America in the United States, it was because the, you know, European settlers from most of the English UK empire dominated that we speak English. There was a push back 700 years ago or longer

• 1:11:33Peter Diamandis?

  where China almost dominated, you know, sailing the planets. We'd be speaking Mandarin right now. So it's like, who's going to lead the way? And what level of justice and diversity and inclusion do they bring as part of their ethos in that fashion?

• 1:11:49Speaker 01

  Absolutely. And that to me is because we haven't had it. That's a moonshot.

• 1:11:55Peter Diamandis?

  Yeah.

• 1:11:56Speaker 01

  You know, and if you look at the history of space exploration, it hasn't been a Jedi space. It's been very exclusive and it's been very competitive. And and so, you know, it's a heavy haul to create make that Star Trek. You know, I love to mix my metaphors, but a Jedi space is really about that Star Trek generation.

• 1:12:19Peter Diamandis?

  Yeah, you were recently with me and Anusha Ansari, a dear friend, another fellow female private astronaut. We had our space adventure trip as part of the X Prize. And we were searching for, you know, prizes, you know, X prizes, challenges to solve. And we also spent a night with Rod Roddenberry, the son of Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek. And we were talking about how inclusive and diverse Star Trek was in the 60s, way out of ahead of the world and is even more so now. And so it's a beautiful thing.

• 1:12:58Speaker 01

  Oh, it really is. And so that's one of the things where, you know, I see myself um, over the next, you know, the rest of my life, talking and pushing for, you know, that Jedi space.

• 1:13:09Peter Diamandis?

  Beautiful. So you know the X Prize. Um, we look for a large, measurable, objective goal to solve a grand challenge out there. And I know implementing Jedi uh, space is one, but is there an X Prize of something else that you would love if, you know, if I could snap my fingers and say, okay, it's fully funded. Uh, uh, what is a, a challenge that you would love, uh, solve that people have to go and build something or do something to demonstrate?

• 1:13:41Speaker 01

  Oh, you know, I would love to see, um, something, you know, there are people working on these kinds of things, but I, again, it's the, the ocean. Um, yeah, we've got to do, well, is it the manufacturing of plastic and the, the, the infiltration of plastic throughout our planet is we need to treat that as a disease. It's a disease that we need to cure. Um, you know, and how we get that mindset that, you know, we all know that we can't go down that road or and keep going down that road of plastics.

• 1:14:24Speaker 01

  So what is the replacement and how do we rapidly, we've got two things that we need to do. We need to get off the plastic that we're using. So what is the replacement?

• 1:14:36Peter Diamandis?

  The P E, the P E T plastic that, that survives for hundreds and thousands of years in our oceans, doesn't break down, gets into the fish.

• 1:14:44Speaker 01

  Yep. And, and so we need to like, and then we need to clean up the mess that we've created as a result of it. So those two things need to, but you know, a lot of people say, well, you know, the, the manufacturers of products are like, well, people are buying, you know, that so they, they, they don't obviously don't care, but we don't have a choice. You know, we, we, people. People are going to buy what's convenient and on the shelf. If you put it in glass, we're gonna buy it. If you put it in plastic, we're gonna buy it. We, you know, and we really need, you know, um, industry. We need to hold industry um to this new standard. So how do we create um a new, you know, what's the next thing?

• 1:15:28Speaker 01

  That is going to take us away from plastic sustainably? And um can be implemented globally and quickly? And then what is the cleanup that goes with that? For the mess that we've created?

• 1:15:41Peter Diamandis?

  Great, great X Prize. Reinvent a container uh material that's biodegradable and sustainable.

• 1:15:48Speaker 01

  Yeah, that can be widely adopted. Because again, it's about how do we take something that is uh prolific? You know, within industry um of how we package goods and stuff? And then um and and how can we help industry? Move away successfully from that current model?

• 1:16:08Peter Diamandis?

  I love that. And the other half of it, how do we clean up the oceans?

• 1:16:12Speaker 01

  Yep, you gotta do them in concert. You gotta do that, that those two things together.

• 1:16:17Peter Diamandis?

  Those are great X prizes and great moon shots. That's been incredible conversation. Dr. Cyan Proctor, artist uh and explorer and astronaut and engineer. Uh and just a great person and an inspiring individual. Uh Cyan, thank you for what you've done. Thank you for being an example. Thank you for putting your heart and your soul out there to inspire others to follow your footsteps.

• 1:16:43Speaker 01

  Thank you. Thank you, Peter. I've enjoyed our conversation and thank you for using your space to inspire those within your reach and beyond.

• 1:16:50Peter Diamandis?

  Thank you. And where do people follow you on Twitter? Or how do they get involved in your projects?

• 1:16:55Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm on Twitter and Instagram at Dr. D R Cyan Proctor. Um, and you know, I have a Patreon and I have my books. My space that it's called Space to Inspire. And people can buy it. I self-published it on Amazon, so any help is always appreciated.

• 1:17:12Peter Diamandis?

  Beautiful. And have a beautiful day. Looking forward to seeing you again very soon.

• 1:17:17Speaker 01

  Thank you. Bye.

• 1:17:19Peter Diamandis?

  Bye.

• 1:17:32Speaker 00

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