Nichelle Nichols has passed away at the age of 89. It’s a great loss to the world but her work in television, film, and STEM lives on. Besides her iconic role as Nyota Uhura in Star Trek: The Original Series and subsequent films, Nichols also volunteered as a NASA recruiter:
Nichols was always interested in space travel. She flew aboard the C-141 Astronomy Observatory, which analyzed the atmospheres of Mars and Saturn on an eight hour, high altitude mission. From the late 1970’s until the late 1980’s, NASA employed Nichelle Nichols to recruit new astronaut candidates. Many of her new recruits were women or members of racial and ethnic minorities, including Guion Bluford (the first African-American astronaut), Sally Ride (the first female American astronaut), Judith Resnik (one of the original set of female astronauts, who perished during the launch of the Challenger on January 28, 1986), and Ronald McNair (the second African-American astronaut, and another victim of the Challenger accident).
via NASA via The Internet Archive (2009)
Articles
- Where No Woman Has Gone Before: An Actress Spotlight on Nichelle Nichols (2009)
- There Is An Alternate Universe Where Nichelle Nichols Played Spock Instead of Uhura (2011)
- A Conversation with Nichelle Nichols (2011)
- Nichelle Nichols, Original Badass (2013)
- Nichelle Nichols To Receive Essence Honor (2014)
- Space History Photo: Nichelle Nichols, NASA Recruiter (2014)
- ‘Star Trek’ Actress Nichelle Nichols to Take Part in NASA Mission (2015)
- ‘Star Trek’ legend Nichelle Nichols remembers how Martin Luther King Jr. convinced her to stay on the show (2018)
- How ‘Star Trek’ legend Nichelle Nichols helped shape a diverse future for NASA (2021)
- Woman in Motion Honors Nichelle Nichols’ Contributions to Space Exploration (2021)
- NASA celebrates the life and career of ‘Star Trek’ star Nichelle Nichols (2021)
- Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols to Christen the Real World Federation Headquarters (2021)
- ‘Star Trek’ Icon Nichelle Nichols Honored At Final Comic Con Appearance (2021)
- Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols dies at age 89 (2022)