STP101 - Remembering Nichelle Nichols - And The Importance of Star Trek - with Charles Chafer
On July 30th, actress Nichelle Nichols passed away at the age of 89. While best known for portraying Lieutenant Uhura in Star Trek, she also played a huge role in shaping NASA in the late 1970s, so we thought it was a great time to discuss that, and the link between space flight and Star Trek. We asked Emily's boss at Celestis, Charles Chafer, if he'd like to come and talk about this, as it's something he's very passionate about too.
NASA tribute to Nichelle Nichols:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nichelle-nichols-helped-nasa-break-boundaries-on-earth-and-in-space/
Nichelle Nichols Obituary:
https://www.space.com/nichelle-nichols-obituary-star-trek-legacy
Charles Chafer:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-chafer-8652684/
Celestis:
https://www.celestis.com
This Week’s Launches:
Wed 27th July 2022: Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China: CAS Space: Zhongke-1A: Demo Flight:
https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/6860
No Video Available
Fri 29th July 2022: Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China: CASC: Long March 2D: Yaogan 35 Group 03:
https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/6985
No Video Available
Mon 1st August 2022: Plesetsk Cosmodrome: Russia: VKS RF: Soyuz 2.1v/Volga: Cosmos 2558:
https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/6991
No Video Available
This Week’s Other News:
New Russian space chief clarifies comments about International Space Station departure:
https://www.space.com/russian-space-chief-clarifies-iss-departure-comments
Russia wants to build its own space station, as early as 2028:
https://www.space.com/russian-space-station-ross-2028-timeline
Congress approves International Space Station extension to 2030:
https://www.space.com/congress-approves-iss-extension-2030-chips-act
25-ton Chinese rocket debris crashes to Earth over Indian Ocean:
https://www.space.com/chinese-long-march-5b-rocket-space-debris-crash
Debris from Chinese rocket crash found in Indonesia and Malaysia:
https://www.space.com/chinese-rocket-crash-space-debris-found
Possible SpaceX debris falls in Australia from Crew-1 Dragon spacecraft:
https://www.space.com/spacex-debris-fall-australia-crew-1-dragon-capsule
Perseverance Mars rover snags 11th rock sample:
https://www.space.com/perseverance-mars-rover-11th-sample-collected
Mars sample return mission adds 2 helicopters, scraps 'fetch' rover:
https://www.space.com/ingenuity-class-helicopters-mars-sample-return
Virgin Galactic plans new astronaut training facility near Spaceport America:
https://www.space.com/virgin-galactic-astronaut-campus-training-facility
Buzz Aldrin's moon-flown Apollo 11 jacket sells for record $2.8M at Sotheby’s:
https://www.space.com/buzz-aldrin-apollo-11-jacket-sothebys-auction
NASA's 'Moonikin' mannequin boards Orion spacecraft for Artemis 1 moon mission:
https://www.space.com/nasa-moonikin-artemis-1-mannequin-on-orion-capsule
European Space Agency recruits Shaun (the sheep) for Artemis 1 moon mission:
https://www.space.com/artemis--1-moon-mission-esa-shaun-the-sheep
Image Credits: NASA
Space and Things:
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Emily Carney:
A veteran of the United States Navy, Carney became a freelance writer back in 2008 and started a blog called This Space Available, which is now hosted by the National Space Society. In 2022 she started working as Content Director for Celestis – the first company to have successfully conducted Memorial Spaceflight Missions.
In 2011, Carney founded a facebook group Space Hipsters. Originally intended to be a place to share news and insights amongst friends, this community has now grown to close to 30,000 members including astronauts, engineers, scientists, historians and space flight enthusiasts from around the globe.
NSS Blog: https://space.nss.org/category/this-space-available/
Medium Blog: https://emilycarneyspace.medium.com/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/EmilyLCarney
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmilyCarneySpace/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilycarneyspace/
Dave Giles:
Giles is a singer/songwriter from London, England who has always had a passion for space flight. Since his early years he’s been looking skyward and though he ended up wielding a guitar for a living, space exploration is alway on his mind and one of his most popular songs is about astronaut Gene Cernan, ‘The Last Man On The Moon’.
In 2019 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, Giles visited all of the crewed space vehicles flown by NASA from Freedom 7 to the Space Shuttle Orbiters.
Full info: https://www.davejgiles.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/davejgiles
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davejgilesmusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davejgiles
Space and Things is brought to you And Things Productions: https://www.andthingsproductions.com
