Farewell, Nichelle Nichols

We're just getting out of drydock here and we've got bad news coming across subspace. Nichelle Nichols has passed at the age of 81.

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When I was a kid, I felt like Uhura was one of the cooler people on the bridge. She could stop the show with an incoming transmission from her earpeice, or slide into any other position the bridge needed. It goes without saying that having such a capable and beautiful black woman on prime time TV in the 60's was a huge deal. You couldn't ask for someone better to fill such a role.

Much like Strange New Worlds' Uhura, Celia Rose Gooding, Nichols was a product of the stage. In fact, it was Broadway that almost took her off of the show towards the end of its first season. She then famously ran into Martin Luther King Jr., who convinced her to stay. Nichols would go on to inspire a whole new generation of kids, including our first women and minority astronauts. 

Rest in power, Nichelle. Losing you is like losing a friend.