The sad news were announsed by her son Kyle Johnson on her official social media channels.

Last night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes and passed away. Her light however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and draw inspiration.

Hers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all.
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Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, who passed away 30 years ago October 24, 1991. Insisted that the crew of the USS Enterprise come from many diverse backgrounds. Nichols was one of the first Black women ever to play a main cast role on a television series, which seems obvious nowadays, but in 1966 it was certainly not. Her character played the Enterprise’s communications officer with expertise in linguistics.

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She was known to lavrage her sucsessful acting career to the promotion of woman and people of color in space industry. Nichols is also known for the ‘first interracial kiss on U.S. television’, with Captain James T. Kirk in the episode "Plato's Stepchildren" that screened on November 22, 1968.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration also published a tweet with a picture of Nichelle sitting at the legendary CAPCOM console, wearing the NASA uniform of the time.

We celebrate 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.

A Star Trek Iconic Figure

In 1966, after the first season of the show wrapped, the actress actually thought of leaving the show for a Broadway career. But then she met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at an NAACP event, he told her that his entire family watched ‘Trek’ together., and he urged her to reconsider her decision.

Not only she didn’t leave ‘Trek’, Nichols kept on playing roles in different iterations of the series. She played Uhura again in the Star Trek: The Animated Series in 1973 and 1974. In the episode “The Lorelei Signal” the Federation starship Enterprise investigates a sector of space where starships have been disappearing every 27.346 years. Captain Kirk, First Officer Spock, Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy, and Lieutenant Carver beam down to the source of the signals. On board the Enterprise, Communications Officer Lt. Uhura talks with Nurse Chapel about the men's condition and concludes that she must take command of the starship due to the euphoric state of Chief Engineer Scott.

The following years she kept on play Uhura in, in many of the Star Trek movies:

• Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

She even starred in the 1992 video game Star Trek 25th Anniversary.

Nichols was an advocate of woman and people of color in space

She called on NASA to expand its astronaut program to women and people of color. This led to a partnership between NASA and Nichols’ new science foundation, Women in Motion, to bring diversity to the space program. Thanks to her activism Sally Ride became the first woman in space in 1983. It was also the same year the Air Force Col. Guion Bluford became the first Black astronaut.

In 1977, Nichols was appointed to the board of directors of the National Space Institute and later was invited to NASA headquarters, just as NASA was looking to expand its pool of talent and diversify. NASA asked Nichols, who had also started a consultant firm, Women in Motion, to help recruit more women and people of color applicants for the astronaut program. In just four months, Nichols was credited with bringing in more than 8,000 applications, of which more than 1,600 were women and more than 1,000 were people of color.

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 Bill Nelson, the current Adminstrator of NASA, and continued: 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.

Rest in Peace, Nichelle Nichols