Girls at the US Space and Rocket Center’s Space Camp / Nichelle Nichols as Lt Uhura on Star Trek

Alabama will be the site of a new training camp for the next generation of female astronauts—funded and named in honor of one of the profession’s great pioneers.

Okay, maybe next exactly, because the Nichelle Nichols Space Camp honors someone who pioneered an idea rather than a profession—an idea that color barriers didn’t exist in outer space.

Passing away in 2022, African American actress Nichelle Nichols was the first black woman to star in a primetime American TV show when she took the role of Lieutenant Nyota Uhura on Star Trek. As a bridge officer, it wasn’t just that she had plenty of screen time in the show, but she was one of the highest ranking characters according to the show’s plotline.

As Whoopi Goldberg later put it “I just saw a Black woman on television; and she ain’t no maid!”

Indeed there was nothing typical nor token about Nichols’ character. Uhura was a polyglot, translator, and communications expert high up in the chain of command, and her portrayal resulted in a generation of African American women watching someone who looked like them explore space.

To that end, she became something of a space influencer—with few impacts likely to be greater than this new weekend-long experience for young women aged 14 to 18 at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Organized by the Nichelle Nichols Foundation, the Space Camp will be organized around two structures: the first being the internationally-recognized excellence of the Space and Rocket Center program which mirrors astronaut training done by NASA, and the second being an additional structure of activities to mirror the finest concepts contained within the Star Trek canon.

These include coursework on the concept of “Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations,” the bedrock of philosophy from the show’s Vulcan aliens, and a series of mission scenarios similar to those undertaken aboard the Enterprise, specifically a first contact scenario, which was the responsibility of Uhura in the show.

The camp is a fitting legacy for the recently-deceased actress, who was the direct inspiration for Sally Ride, the first female American astronaut, along with so many others who had encountered Nichols during her STEM advocacy work with NASA.

All of that might not have happened if it weren’t for a chance conversation with none other than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Nichols, according to multiple sources, planned to leave Star Trek in 1967 after its first season, but changed her mind after talking to Dr. King, who explained it was his favorite show along with his three children, and that her character signified a future of greater racial harmony and cooperation.

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The casting was totally open, Dr. King pointed out—if she didn’t play Uhura, they didn’t need another black woman—they could replace her with anyone, even an alien.

Nichols took up the mantle of barrier-breaker on board the Enterprise, much to creator-director Gene Roddenberry had hoped. In the 1968 episode “Plato’s Stepchildren,” Uhura and Captain Kirk kiss, which became one of the first scripted interracial kiss scenes in American cinematography. But there’s more.

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The original intent was to film a scene that ended in a kiss, and one which ended without, and then allow the network to decide which one to air. Nichols and William Shatner agreed, it has since been learned, to flub every non-kiss take, and thereby force the network’s hand to include the kiss.

The Space Camp costs $2,000 to attend, but financial assistance and scholarships are available for eligible participants.

WATCH a promotional video of the camp below…

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