The late Nichelle Nichols, greatest recognized for taking part in Lieutenant Uhura in Star Trek and its subsequent function movies, was additionally a NASA pioneer. Within the late Nineteen Seventies, Nichols started working with NASA as a contractor and helped recruit ladies and minority candidates into the area program.
Now, Nichols’ legacy will proceed as, per Trek Movie, The Nichelle Nichols Basis and the U.S. House and Rocket Middle in Huntsville, Alabama have teamed up for a brand new area camp geared towards ladies. Nichols’ work with NASA was the focus of the documentary, Woman in Motion.
The Nichelle Nichols House Camp will start in January 2026 and will likely be open to younger ladies between the ages of 14 and 18 years previous. The three-day camp will mix astronaut coaching, like zero-gravity drills and spacesuit testing, with new matters like colonizing Mars and presumably contacting extraterrestrial life.
Associated
Uhura Actor Knows Which Genre Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Should Tackle Next
Celia Rose Gooding talks about Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds’ willingness to embrace so many various tones and what story they need to see subsequent.
Star Trek Alums are Concerned
Walter Koening, who played Chekov in Star Trek, serves on the board of administrators for the Nichelle Nichols Basis, and Bonnie Gordon, who voices the ship’s pc within the animated Star Trek: Prodigy, will function a camp counselor, chaperone, and advocate for the campers.
Star Trek (1966)
|
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Rating |
Rotten Tomatoes Viewers Rating |
|
80% |
89% |
Nichols Impressed Hundreds to Be part of NASA
Dan Madsen, publicist for the Nichelle Nichols House Camp, and a private buddy of Nichols, mirrored on the actress’s work with NASA, saying, “She was concerned with NASA again within the ‘70s, actually selling the area program and actually attempting to encourage ladies and minorities to change into part of it. And she or he went round for, I don’t know what number of totally different cities selling the truth that ladies and minorities have a spot within the area program. I feel she’s signed up one thing like 8,000 candidates throughout her time that she labored with NASA.”
A NASA Astronaut Displays on Trek
Madsen famous that Nichols was instrumental in inspiring astronaut Mae Jemison, the primary African-American lady in area, to affix NASA. Jemison even appeared in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation titled “Second Possibilities.” In a earlier interview with C-SPAN in 1994, Jemison talked concerning the affect Nichols’ Star Trek position had on her.
“A program (Star Trek) the place it put ladies in non-traditional roles. So possibly Lieutenant Uhura was possibly the primary lady that you just noticed on daily basis, each week, on tv who labored in a technical discipline. In order that was very thrilling. And in addition, she was African which was a really totally different type of really feel from tv again then. So I used to be very very similar to Lieutenant Uhura,” Jemison mentioned.
Associated
‘I Have This One Idea’: Brent Spiner Talks Possible Star Trek Return as Data
Star Trek icon Brent Spiner opens up about his personal thought for a possible return in a future franchise challenge and Picard’s TNG reunion episode.
Going to Mars?
A foremost objective of the Nichelle Nichols House Camp is to encourage younger would-be astronauts to suppose large, and that features going to Mars. A press launch from the camp described the objective stating, “It’s not laborious to think about a few of our House Camp cadets residing this dream as future feminine astronauts and being amongst among the first human beings to set foot on the pink planet. With the fitting inspiration, laborious work, and expertise, we are going to develop to change into an interplanetary species that may journey means past Mars.”
The Nichelle Nichols House Camp will happen from Jan. 17 to Jan. 19, 2026, on the U.S. House and Rocket Middle in Huntsville, Alabama. Registration for the camp just isn’t but open, however scholarships and monetary assist will likely be accessible to those that are eligible. Donations are additionally being accepted on the camp’s official website.
Nichols’ documentary Girl in Movement is streaming on Paramount+.
Supply: Trek Movie, The Nichelle Nichols Foundation
The Star Trek universe encompasses a number of sequence, every providing a singular lens via which to expertise the wonders and perils of area journey. Be part of Captain Kirk and his crew on the Authentic Sequence’ voyages of discovery, encounter the utopian imaginative and prescient of the Federation in The Subsequent Technology, or delve into the darker corners of galactic politics in Deep House 9. Irrespective of your choice, there is a Star Trek journey ready to ignite your creativeness.
