Nichelle Nichols boldy went where few have gone before this week when she joined a NASA space expedition aboard the telescope-bearing shuttle SOFIA—the Stratospheric Observatory for Infared Astronomy.
Oh, and she took a familiar space traveler with her—a tribble.
The iconic actress known for playing Uhurua in Star Trek has been to space once before, nearly four decades ago, when she was part of the first team of researchers aboard NASA’s C-141 Astronomy Observatory.
The major difference? They didn’t have Twitter.
Tonight we're studying formation of massive stars & evolution of planetary construction material w/ @NichelleIsUhura pic.twitter.com/kwDvSr8J8b
— SOFIA Telescope (@SOFIAtelescope) September 15, 2015
Hailing frequencies open. We're live from the stratosphere w/ @NichelleIsUhura Send us your questions w/ #askNASA747 pic.twitter.com/oTPhUz8frW
— SOFIA Telescope (@SOFIAtelescope) September 16, 2015
The legendary actress/astronaut joined a crew of 25 teammates and a large telescope aboard the shuttle, where she answered questions from fans and joined in tweeting updates.
This is how we fit a 2.5 meter telescope, science instrument, and 26 team members on a flying observatory #askNASA747 pic.twitter.com/PbmXPS90Em
— SOFIA Telescope (@SOFIAtelescope) September 16, 2015
The telescope is mounted on a sperical bearing to isolate it from aircraft motion & is stabilized w/ gyroscopes @theRealLaRocca #askNASA747
— Nichelle Nichols (@NichelleIsUhura) September 16, 2015
And when she got on board, she found a friend waiting for her:
We've boarded SOFIA & there are some tribbles onboard with @NichelleIsUhura! pic.twitter.com/kzMkoIHynz
— SOFIA Telescope (@SOFIAtelescope) September 16, 2015
Here’s Nichols in 1977 as part of the original observatory expedition:
Back on the ground, then heading home for some much needed rest. Thank you @SOFIAtelescope and #NASA747, this has been a dream.
— Nichelle Nichols (@NichelleIsUhura) September 16, 2015
It’s wonderful to see that four decades haven’t been long enough to ground a true space explorer.
Photo via SOFIAtelescope/Twitter