Woman in Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek and the Remaking of NASA, a new feature-length documentary exclusive to Paramount+, has received its first trailer at today’s virtual First Contact Day celebration. The documentary explores how Star Trek actress Nichelle Nichols was critical in NASA’s decision to begin recruiting women and people of color in the late 1970s and 1980s.
Directed by Todd Thompson, Woman in Motion shows the incredible story of how in 1977, Nichols began a campaign to diversity NASA. Nichols founded Women In Motion, Inc., which recruited more than 8,000 African American, Asian and Latin women and men. In the trailer for Woman in Motion, interview subject Dr. Kerry Mark Joels, a former space educator for NASA’s Ames Research Center, says that “she changed the space program forever.”
In addition to interviews with Nichols, Woman in Motion also includes interviews with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Pharrell Williams, George Takei, Rod Roddenberry, Vivica A. Fox, Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III, amongst many others.
Nichols played Nyota Uhura in the original Star Trek series and in the first six Star Trek films. With her work in various Star Trek films and the original series, Nichols would play Uhura for over 25 years. In addition to her work on Star Trek, Nichols has also appeared on shows like Futurama, The Simpsons, and The Young and the Restless.
While Nichols has certainly had an impressive career as an actress in one of the most iconic science fiction series of all-time, her remarkable work with NASA is one that many fans might not know about. Thankfully, Woman in Motion looks to help enlighten audiences on Nichols’ outstanding work in helping diversify the space agency.
Woman in Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek and the Remaking of NASA makes its Paramount+ debut on June 3. Watch the trailer below: