Star Trek actress Nichelle Nichols has died

Actress Nichelle Nichols, best known for her role as Nyota Uhura in Star Trek: The Original Series, has died. Nichols' son, Kyle Johnson, shared the news on Sunday. "I regret to inform you that a great light in the firmament no longer shines for us as it has for so many years," he wrote on Instagram. "His was a life well lived and as such a role model for all of us." Nichols was 89 when she died on Saturday, July 30 of natural causes.

To say that Nichols was a pioneer would be an understatement. She burst into Hollywood at a time when opportunities for black women were scarce. In interviews years after The Original Series ended, Nichols said she had considered leaving the show during its first season to pursue a career on Broadway, but had Changed her mind after meeting Martin Luther King Jr. King, as a fan of the show and someone who saw Nichols as a role model, was apparently horrified to find out she wanted to leave and convinced her to stay with she.

As well as starring in The Original Series and its movie sequels, as well as making memorable appearances on shows like Heroes and Futurama, Nichols has spent decades working with NASA to help the space agency diversify its talent pool. She also attended the christening of the Space Shuttle Enterprise in 1976 alongside Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and much of The Original Series cast. In 2015, she also flew aboard NASA's SOFIA telescope on an eight-hour flight where the observatory studied Mars and Saturn. She will be missed.

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