'Star Trek’ actress Nichelle Nichols’ ashes headed for solar orbit

2003 filepic of Nichelle Nichols. Nichols, who died on July 30 at age 89, will become the latest member of the 1960s television series to be memorialised by having some of her earthly remains flown into space. – Photo: AFP

The late actress Nichelle Nichols, best known as Lieutenant Uhura on Star Trek, will become the latest member of the 1960s television series to be memorialised by having some of her earthly remains flown into space.

Nichols, who died on July 30 at age 89, is credited with helping shatter racial stereotypes and redefining Hollywood roles for Black actors at the height of the U.S. Civil Rights movement, as one of the first Black women to portray an empowered character on network television.