Nichelle Nichols (a.k.a Lt. Nyota Uhura )
Read Time: 49 min
Star Trek and Star Wars fans can agree that Nichelle Nichols in the role of Lt. Nyota Uhura impacted history. Dr. Martin L. King Jr. said it the best "For the first time on television, we will be seen as we should be seen every day, as intelligent, quality, beautiful people who can sing, dance, and can go to space, who are professors, lawyers."
However, many people do not realize that Ms. Nichols continued to impact history and space exploration even when Star Trek ended. She volunteered from 1977 - 2015 with NASA to both promote its programs and help recruit diverse astronauts. The recruits from this effort included:
Dr. Sally Ride, First American Female Astronaut
Colonel Guion Bluford, First African-American Astronaut
Dr. Judith Resnik, Flew Mission during the Space Shuttle Program
Dr. Ronald McNair, Flew Mission during the Space Shuttle Program
Charles Bolden, Former NASA Astronaut
and Administrator
Frederick D. Gregory, Former NASA Deputy Administrator and veteran of Three Space Shuttle Missions
Lori Garver, Former NASA Deputy Administrator
Nicholle Nichols also served on the board of governors of the National Space Society (formerly known as National Space Institute), a nonprofit educational space advocacy organization from the mid-1980s.
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