20 Mind-Blowing Facts You Never Knew About Star Trek

12. And Nichelle Nichols Later Worked At NASA

Even after the show finally did get cancelled after three season due to consistently low ratings, Nichols didn't quite give up on Uhura. Sort of. After Star Trek ended the actress took a volunteer position with actual star trekkers NASA, a joint effort with her Women In Motion company to recruit women and minorities to the space programme. Something she had a crazy amount of success with. Because obviously she did. If you were a woman of certain age and Lieutenant Uhura asked you if you wanted to go where no one had gone before, of course you would! Among those recruited were Dr Sally Ride, the first American female astronaut, and Colonel Guion Bluford, the first African-American astronaut. She also recruited current NASA administrator Charles Borden, former Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, and Dr Judith Resnik and Dr Ronald McNair, who flew several successful shuttle missions before dying in the Challenger disaster.