--- title: Lt. Uhura to Board Nasa's Airplane Observatory description: After playing a space explorer on television and movies since the '60s, Nichelle Nichols is going on an official NASA mission on Tuesday canonical: https://time.com/4035449/star-trek-uhura-nasa/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-15T21:59:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T10:57:40.809Z article:section: Science og:title: Star Trek's Lt. Uhura to Board NASA's Airplane Observatory og:description: Actress and diversity advocate Nichelle Nichols will fly up tonight with NASA og:url: https://time.com/4035449/star-trek-uhura-nasa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0b47d263729331f/698863b8428a9e30a9ccf208/nichelle-nichols.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: GLENDALE, CA - APRIL 15: Actress Nichelle Nichols attends the Malcolm McDowell Series Of Q&A Screenings for "Star Trek: Generations" Presented by Prospect House Entertainment moderated by Michael Dorn at The Alex Theater on April 15, 2014 in Glendal og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Star Trek's Lt. Uhura to Board NASA's Airplane Observatory twitter:description: Actress and diversity advocate Nichelle Nichols will fly up tonight with NASA twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0b47d263729331f/698863b8428a9e30a9ccf208/nichelle-nichols.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Star Trek's_ Lieutenant Uhura to Board NASA's Airplane Observatory by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Sep 15, 2015 9:59 PM UTC  Actress Nichelle Nichols attends the Malcolm McDowell Series Of Q&A Screenings for "Star Trek: Generations" in Glendale, Calif., on Apr. 15, 2014. Actress Nichelle Nichols attends the Malcolm McDowell Series Of Q&A Screenings for "Star Trek: Generations" in Glendale, Calif., on Apr. 15, 2014.Albert L. Ortega—Getty Images by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Sep 15, 2015 9:59 PM UTC After playing a space explorer on television and movies since the ’60s, Nichelle Nichols is going on an official NASA mission on Tuesday. The actress, known for her role as Lt. Nyota Uhura on _Star Trek_, will join NASA’s SOFIA observatory — a specially outfitted Boeing 747\. Aboard is the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy instrumentation, which makes deep-space observations from the stratosphere, above interference from water vapor. Nichols will be one of SOFIA’s first non-essential personnel, taking the chance to field questions from Twitter users. > [](https://twitter.com/NichelleIsUhura/status/643844995045269508) As Uhura, Nichols was one of the first African-American women on television to play a [role other than a servant or black stereotype](http://www.npr.org/2011/01/17/132942461/Star-Treks-Uhura-Reflects-On-MLK-Encounter). Nichols has been a long time advocate of diversity in outer space and inspired generations of black space pilots, including current NASA administrator Charles Bolden. Aboard SOFIA, Nichols will make observations of star-forming regions and a protostar in the Constellation Taurus. The flight is set for an 8 p.m. PST departure from California, where it will fly over much the American West and into Canadian airspace. \[[Popular Mechanics](http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a17340/lieutenant-uhura-is-boarding-nasas-telescope-plane-today/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4035449/star-trek-uhura-nasa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4035449/star-trek-uhura-nasa/"},"headline":"Star Trek's Lieutenant Uhura to Board NASA's Airplane Observatory","datePublished":"2015-09-15T21:59:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:57:40.809Z","description":"Actress and space diversity advocate Nichelle Nichols will fly to the stratosphere tonight","url":"https://time.com/4035449/star-trek-uhura-nasa/","keywords":["Space","Star Trek"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0b47d263729331f/698863b8428a9e30a9ccf208/nichelle-nichols.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf0b47d263729331f/698863b8428a9e30a9ccf208/nichelle-nichols.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GLENDALE, CA - APRIL 15: Actress Nichelle Nichols attends the Malcolm McDowell Series Of Q&A Screenings for \"Star Trek: Generations\" Presented by Prospect House Entertainment moderated by Michael Dorn at The Alex Theater on April 15, 2014 in Glendal","caption":"GLENDALE, CA - APRIL 15: Actress Nichelle Nichols attends the Malcolm McDowell Series Of Q&A Screenings for \"Star Trek: Generations\" Presented by Prospect House Entertainment moderated by Michael Dorn at The Alex Theater on April 15, 2014 in Glendale, Ca","creditText":"Albert L. 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