Sian Proctor, who will be a part of SpaceX’s Inspiration4’s all civilian crew on Wednesday, is a certified pilot from Arizona’s Civil Air Patrol. She also secured a runner-up position in NASA’s astronaut programme in 2009.

Proctor, who is currently 51 years old, is a professor of geosciences at the South Mountain Community College in Arizona’s Phoenix, according to US media reports.

Proctor’s father was associated with NASA and worked at a tracking station when the United States was conducting a series of Apollo missions. The scientist has conducted a flurry of missions at the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) Habitat.

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Proctor won her golden ticket to get on board SpaceX’s Inspiration mission through a programme run by Shift4 Payments, an initiative headed by Jared Isaacman, who will also be in the crew on Wednesday.

In a statement given on her inclusion in the space mission, Proctor said, “I am thrilled to be part of the historic Inspiration4 crew and to represent the Prosperity seat. Going to space has always been a dream of mine, and being able to inspire the world through art and poetry makes it even more special for me”, according to KTAR News.

Proctor has been designated as the Mission Pilot for Wednesday’s liftoff, Reuters reported.

Other crew members who will be joining the 51-year-old include Jared Isaacman (Mission Commander), Hayley Arceneaux (Chief Medical Officer) and Chris Sembroski (Mission Specialist).

Wednesday’s mission is the first chartered passenger flight for Elon Musk’s SpaceX and a big step in space tourism by a private company, AP reported.

Isaacman and the others said on the eve of the launch that they had few if any last-minute jitters. It will be the first time in 60 years of human spaceflight that no professional astronaut is aboard an orbit-bound rocket.

(With AP inputs)