Nichelle Nichols is the iconic actor who portrayed Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, a linguistics and cryptology expert in Gene Roddenberry’s sci-fi 1960’s TV classic, Star Trek.
Now, Paramount+ brings the inspiring true story of Nichelle Nichols’ focused efforts from the last century to tear down racial barriers and change the demographics and the future of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program.
This inspiring true story will detail exactly how renowned Star Trek actor Nichelle Nichols pioneered the NASA recruiting program to hire people of color and the first female astronauts for the space agency in the late 1970s and 1980s.
Her journey and the strides she made in the aerospace field will be revealed in their highly anticipated Woman In Motion, coming on June 3, 2021.
“I said if they let me in the door… I will open it so wide, they will see the world.” – Nichelle Nichols
Nichelle went into space as an actress, but what many people do not know is that she changed the world and opened doors to the old boys’ all-white male club and ushered in qualified Black people who were previously denied access to NASA.
To their credit, the organization listened to Nichols, and invited her in the “club,” and took the popular interest and cultural fascination of televised science fiction, and made that interest and curiosity into fact.
Nichelle is owed a great deal of gratitude. She is someone who astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson lauds her as “a force of nature.” She is the person who broke down barriers for those standing outside the formerly all-white and male club.
The remaking of NASA will be one of the top summer events for Paramount+, as the feature-length documentary Woman In Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek, and the Remaking of NASA will be available to stream exclusively on the service starting on Thursday, June 3.
The news was revealed by Mica Burton, the Women In Motion panel’s moderator, during Paramount’s virtual global First Contact Day celebration. The official trailer was released and is embedded below.
Nichols creates Women In Motion in 1977
Directed by Todd Thompson, Woman In Motion will reveal how Nichols transformed her sci-fi television stardom into a real-life science career.
Back in 1977, she created a campaign to bring diversity to NASA.
Nichols formed the company, Women In Motion, Inc. and recruited more than 8,000 African American, Asian, and LatinX people for the agency.
Nichols and her program still influence the younger generation of astronauts as well, including Mae Jemison, the first female African American astronaut in space.
Paramount+ says:
“Despite an uphill battle against a bureaucracy that was hesitant to let her get involved, Nichols persevered and is credited by NASA for turning it into one of the most diverse independent agencies in the United States Federal Government.”
The documentary features notable achievers and actors such as Neil deGrasse Tyson, George Takei, Pharrell Williams, Martin Luther King III, Al Sharpton, Vivica A. Fox, Water Koenig, Rod Roddenberry, Michael Dorn, Guy Bluford, Charles Bolden, Ivor Dawson, Frederik Gregory, and Benjamin Crump.
Please review the following Woman In Motion trailer for the coming event on Paramount+:
.The free First Contact Day virtual panels will be available to view on-demand on Paramount+’s YouTube Channel and on Paramount+ in the U.S., following their initial airing on StarTrek.com/FirstContact today from 12:00-2:45 PM, PT/3:00-5:45 PM, ET.
Woman In Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek and the Remaking of NASA will be available to stream exclusively on the service starting on Thursday, June 3.