Woman in Motion Honors Nichelle Nichols' Contributions to Space Exploration

Paramount+ today announced the feature-length documentary Woman in Motion: Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek and the Remaking of NASA, will be available to stream exclusively on the service starting on Thursday, June 3. Woman in Motion features the remarkable and inspiring true story of how renowned “Star Trek” actress Nichelle Nichols pioneered the NASA recruiting program to hire people of color and the first female astronauts for the space agency in the late 1970s and 1980s. The news was revealed by Mica Burton, moderator of the “Women In Motion” panel, during today’s virtual global First Contact Day celebration. The official trailer for Woman in Motion was also shown during the panel.

The free First Contact Day virtual panels will be available to view on-demand on Paramount+’s YouTube Channel and on Paramount+ in the U.S., following their initial airing on StarTrek.com/FirstContact today from 12:00-2:45 PM, PT/3:00-5:45 PM, ET.

Directed by Todd Thompson (The Highwaymen, PRE FAB!), Woman in Motion chronicles how Nichols transformed her sci-fi television stardom into a real-life science career when, in 1977, she embarked on a campaign to bring diversity to NASA. Nichols formed the company Women In Motion, Inc. and recruited more than 8,000 African American, Asian and Latino women and men for the agency. Nichols and her program continue to influence the younger generation of astronauts as well, including Mae Jemison, the first female African American astronaut in space. Despite an uphill battle against a bureaucracy that was hesitant to let her get involved, Nichols persevered and is credited by NASA for turning it into one of the most diverse independent agencies in the United States Federal Government.

In addition to Nichols, Woman in Motion features notable celebrities, activists, scientists and astronauts including Neil deGrasse Tyson, George Takei, Pharrell Williams, Martin Luther King III, Al Sharpton, Vivica A. Fox, Water Koenig, Rod Roddenberry, Michael Dorn, Guy Bluford, Charles Bolden, Ivor Dawson, Frederik Gregory and Benjamin Crump.