(CNN)The ashes of the late trailblazing "Star Trek" actor Nichelle Nichols will take flight when they are released into space from a Vulcan Centaur rocket by United Launch Alliance later this year.
Nichols -- who died at 89 on July 30 -- is best known for playing Lt. Nyota Uhura in the "Star Trek" television series from 1966 to 1969, and in the sci-fi franchise's films from 1979 to 1991.
As the only Black character on "Star Trek" during the civil rights era of the 1960s, Nichols became a vanguard of representation both on screen and in space and science fields. She helped recruit some of the first female and minority US astronauts -- including Guion Bluford Jr., the first African American to go to space in 1983, and Judith Resnik, one of six women selected as NASA astronauts in 1978, the first year women were considered.
Nichols had wanted to leave "Star Trek" after the first season in 1967 to pursue a Broadway career, but decided to stay after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. told her about the impact of her non-stereotypical role on Black Americans. Before Nichols' history-making role hit the small screen, Black women were often portrayed as domestic workers or in small roles.
