R.I.P. Nichelle Nichols, Trailblazing Star Trek Icon, Dead at 89 (12/28/1932 - 07/30/2022)

To the stars Uhura….. RIP

 

I was in love with her from afar and for years! RIP, my black goddess. (This is benign, not creepy.)

 

Hailing frequencies are now closed. RIP Lt. Uhura.

 

That's too bad, always thought she was a beauty, back when I was watching the show.

 

Nichelle Nichols Helped NASA Break Boundaries on Earth and in Space



Nichelle Nichols Helped NASA Break Boundaries on Earth and in Space

Actor Nichelle Nichols, who died July 30, 2022, didn't just break new ground on "Star Trek" by playing one of the first leading recurring Black female characters on U.S. television. A decade after the show ended, she did the same for NASA, appearing in a promotional film aimed at recruiting women and people of color to apply to be astronauts, as she recounted in a 2012 visit to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The next astronaut class, appointed in 1978, included Guy Bluford, the first Black American in space, and Sally Ride, the first American woman in space.

NASA Adminstrator Bill Nelson remembered Nichols in a statement:

“Nichelle Nichols was a trailblazing actress, advocate and dear friend to NASA. At a time when Black women were seldom seen on screen, Nichelle’s portrayal as Nyota Uhura on Star Trek held a mirror up to America that strengthened civil rights,” said Administrator Bill Nelson. “Nichelle’s advocacy transcended television and transformed NASA. After Apollo 11, Nichelle made it her mission to inspire women and people of color to join this agency, change the face of STEM and explore the cosmos. Nichelle’s mission is NASA’s mission. Today, as we work to send the first woman and first person of color to the Moon under Artemis, NASA is guided by the legacy of Nichelle Nichols.”

Nichols and NASA crossed paths many times over the years. Astronauts and other employees cited Nichols' performance as Uhura as one of the reasons they wanted to join the agency.

Video (2021): Nichelle Nichols: Woman on a NASA Mission

Video (2013): Lt. Uhura's Warp Speed Visit to Dryden

Feature (2019): 50 Years of NASA and Star Trek Connections

 

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/nasa-pays-tribute-to-nichelle-nichols



NASA Pays Tribute to Nichelle Nichols

NASA celebrates the life of Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek actor, trailblazer, and role model, who symbolized to so many what was possible. She partnered with us to recruit some of the first women and minority astronauts, and inspired generations to reach for the stars.

In this photo from February 2012, Nichols was a featured guest speaker in the Building 8 auditorium at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. at a special event commemorating of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Read more: Nichelle Nichols Helped NASA Break Boundaries on Earth and in Space

Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Pat Izzo

 

There's a great documentary about this on Paramount+ (as well as the Shout Factory channel; not sure if that's available on Roku as readily):


Woman In Motion - Woman In Motion Documentary Film

 

Don't have Paramount+ but looks interesting.

 

Also available for free (probably with ads) on ShoutFactoryTV:

ShoutFactoryTV : Watch Woman In Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek

Looks like they definitely are on Roku as well as other streaming platforms.

 

Thanks!

 

Sometimes a few steps back, to give better persepctive, is in order...and this is one of those times.

If you are a fan of Nichelle Nichols, and you followed her life, you likely know a lot more than most, but the average person knows her only as Lt. Uhura.....Still to this day.
First seen on a TV show, airing Sept 1966, it was cancelled by the first producers in 1967 and picked up and run until 1969....and it was finished.
It really did not have a big fan base and ratings were low, low enough for things to be cancelled.
It could easily have been forgotten and left to the dust bin of so what TV shows, like so many others.....but that is not the case.

Here we are, 56 years later, with many different iterations of the Star Trek theme under our belts.....still talking about Lt. Uhura and Nichelle Nichols.

Why are we still talking about her role, and the woman herself?.....because she made an impact, a difference, she left us with something good we will likely carry to our own grave.

I find it interesting she was cast as the Communications Officer because she, just being who she was, had an innate way of communicating good things throughout her life.

Thank you Nichelle Nichols....Thank you.

 

I never knew about this. What an honor!

 

I was lucky ro meet her in 1986 when she was promoting Stat Trek IV. She always looked beautiful on the screen but she was absolutely stunning in person.
RIP.

 

Rest In Peace

 

RIP Ms. Nichols...You Will Forever be Uhura in the Hearts of Fans
In Tribute, I Watched This Last Night:



From:






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RIP Nichelle

You were an essential part of one of the greatest cultural phenomena ever.

 

I simply can't believe how many famous people have passed away over the last month and now into this month...

Next month will be coming up on the one year anniversary of my own mother's passing.

 

R.I.P.

 

Thanks to syndication, I got to see Star Trek a lot, just like a lot of people. One of the things I loved about Roddenberry’s vision of the future was we finally put so many things that plague us in the past and learn just to work together. She was a big reason for this. Beautiful, witty and warm hearted, she made the show so much better.

RIP

 

Nichelle Nichols in National Air and Space Museum Promotional Film

 

I look at my shelves and several sections of them include works by deceased people - I believe the next 5 years are going to erase from this earth most of our beloved "classic" music and film stars.



It's a shame she did relatively little work outside Star Trek but I guess the money that came from the show and the conventions kept her confortable forever.

RIP Mrs Nichols - One Goddess less on Planet Earth

 

I know it's just "the way it works," but it really is a shame that we all just have one life to live (unless you believe in ongoing afterlife) and that it's relatively short; I simply cannot wrap my mind around the fact that some infants die, some people in their teens or 20s die, etc.

Never thought about this when I was younger....now that I'm on the border of hitting 50 and my parents are gone (as well as a lot of other people in the families), I think about this mortality thing all the time. It's actually quite depressing.

 

Michael de Adder, The Chronicle Herald, Halifax NS.

Rest In Peace, Ms. Nichols and Thank You.

 

Walter Koenig (Chekov) is still alive.

 

He sure is...gosh...I thought he'd died.

So...just no more doctor, science officer, chief engineer nor communications officer on the bridge.....hard to run a ship without those, they're truly needed !

Dang I miss them.