After playing Uhura on “Star Trek,” Nichols worked with NASA to promote diversity after watching the Apollo 11 launch. In 1977, Nichols was appointed to the Board of Directors for the National Space Institute. She even became a recruiter for NASA, helping to bring new and diverse voices and skills to the organization. As noted in the documentary about her life, “Woman in Motion,” Nichols “went into this to become an actress. She ended up changing the world.”

The flight with Nichols remains and the messages of tribute will launch later this year. If you scroll down on the site for the mission, you can read some of the messages from her co-stars and stars from other shows in the “Star Trek” franchise including William Shatner, George Takei, Walter Koenig, LeVar Burton, Adam Nimoy (son of the late Leonard Nimoy), J.J. Abrams, Kate Mulgrew, and Celia Rose Gooding, who plays Lt. Uhura on “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.”

It’s a beautiful way to honor a woman who broke so many barriers and changed the face of NASA. 

The 2021 documentary “Woman in Motion” is currently streaming on Paramount+.