Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura on Star Trek, and George Takei, who played Sulu, discuss having played roles that inspired real-life astronauts.

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Thousands of fans turned out for Montreal Comic-Con July 8-10, many to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. Overall, the mood was positive, forward-looking, and particularly supportive of diversity in the franchise. But then William Shatner opened his mouth, and took us all back in time (not in a fun Voyage Home way) with a string of sexist jokes.

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Back in August we reported that 82-year-old Nichelle Nichols would soon become one of the first-ever non-essential personnel to fly as part of NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) mission, and now the intrepid space explorer has the pics to prove it!

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If you're a Star Trek nerd (or anyone who believes that media representation matters), this BigThink video is a fascinating look at the the development of, and inevitable backlash to, greater representation on Star Trek.

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During a Reddit AMA this weekend, 82-year-old Nichelle Nichols casually revealed that she'll be flying in a NASA Observatory Mission this September.

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Check out this awesomely epic new Doctor Who comic adventure, written by Paul Cornell and drawn by Neil Edwards, and set to arrive just in time for Doctor Who Comics Day on August 15th!

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Holy crap those are some impressive names. But wait! There's more! 

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You need some detangler for that, Khaleesi? (via Artgerm on DeviantArt) 

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Well this is a surprise. We all know about the interracial kiss that rocked the world on Star Trek on November 22, 1968 but did you know that kiss was originally supposed to be between Uhura and Spock, not Uhura and Kirk? 

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Author and film historian Mark Clark was promoting his new book, Star Trek FAQ: Everything Left to Know About the First Voyages of the Starship Enterprise, on Alpha Waves Radio. The book runs the gamut of information about Gene Roddenberry's classic sci-fi series and is aimed at both casual and die-hard fans. But one particular bit of information that came out of Clark's research is an alternate theory on who really pushed for the cast of the show to be racially diverse. Read on to find out what Clark believes really happened.

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Author Brad Meltzer wrote a book called Heroes For My Daughter, in which he wrote a series of essays about a variety of people including Lucille Ball, Marie Curie, and Christopher Reeve. Above is a picture of Reeve's daughter, Alexandra, who showed up at a recent signing for the book and read the entry about her father. Are you crying yet? ...How about now? (via Brad Meltzer on Facebook via email tipster Anna B.)

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Senior Representative of the United Federation of Planets Nyota Uhura stopped by the White House last night as part of an on going series of talks about the United States' space presence in the future. Well, actually, Nichelle Nichols, the actress who plays Uhura and who has worked with NASA for years, helping to recruit female and minority personnel, including Dr. Sally Ride and Colonel Guion Bluford, the first American woman and African-American person in space, had the opportunity to stop by the White House Tuesday night and meet the President, since she was in town for a NASA event. Here's two simply awesome things from her Twitter:

Months ago Pres Obama was quoted as saying that he'd had a crush on me when he was younger. I asked about that & he proudly confirmed it! President Obama also confirmed for me that he was defintely a Trekker! How wonderful is that?!

(via The Hollywood Reporter.) Previously in Nichelle Nichols

• We Added Uhura to our Logo Lineup!
• How Martin Luther King, Jr. Saved Star Trek
• Nichelle Nichols Almost Played Spock?

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One of the trademarks of Nichelle Nichols' Lt. Uhura on Star Trek: The Original Series was not just her skill and authority, but her miniskirt. We know it was an attempt by NBC suits to "sex up" the show a bit (the women in the pilot wore the same uniforms as the men, which was Gene Roddenberry's idea). Then again, it was the 1960s, and women wore miniskirts in their everyday lives. Said Nichols herself when questioned about the leg-revealing attire: "I was wearing them on the street. What's wrong with wearing them in the air? I wore 'em on airplanes. It was the era of the miniskirt. Everybody wore miniskirts." But while we got a version of the Starfleet dress in J.J. Abrams' 2009 Star Trek reboot, has the director done away with it completely for the sequel? That's what some are thinking after new pictures from behind the scenes appeared this week. Even though we totally saw a picture from the set of Star Trek 2 with Zoe Saldana in a dress (even though Abrams didn't want us to).

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Not too long ago, we posted about Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura on Star Trek, reading for the role of Spock before the show became the show that we know and love today. But after the first season of the show, she was getting ready to quit when she met a very famous Star Trek fan -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We don't have to tell you what happened, but we will let you hear her tell the really wonderful story of how the man we're celebrating today convinced her to stay on board the Enterprise. Previously in Star Trek

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Rod Roddenberry (son of Gene Roddenberry)'s documentary Trek Nation, which aired this Wednesday, was filmed in as a son's pursuit of discovering what made his father famous, after spending years resisting the Roddenberry legacy and the fandom that surrounds it. But, in the middle of a Huffington Post interview with participants in the documentary, there's something we've certainly never heard before in the statements of Nichelle Nichols. Namely, that she was asked to read for the part of Spock.

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I have recently discovered Star Talk Radio, a podcast by delightful astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. I've been working my way through the archives, finding the show to be good company while I cook dinner. The other day, I listened to “A Conversation with Nichelle Nichols” (aka Lieutenant Uhura on the original Star Trek). I knew from the title that I was going to dig it. What I did not expect was to find myself standing there, my halfway-constructed lasagna lying neglected before me, as the lovely Ms. Nichols brought me to tears. I was familiar with part of the story she was telling, but...well, allow me to share.

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