Woman in Motion Documentary Shows How Nichelle Nichols Led NASA Recruitment of Minorities, Women in the 1970s

Nichelle Nichols in Woman in Motion

OCTOBER 18, 2019 - A new documentary about Nichelle Nichols is making its way around the film festival circuit. Woman in Motion tells the story of how Nichelle Nichols led a recruitment push for NASA in the late 1970s. According to the film’s synopsis, “In 1977, with just four months left, NASA struggles to recruit scientists, engineers and astronauts for their new Space Shuttle Program. That is when Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek’s Lt. Uhura, challenges them by asking the question: Where are my people? She embarks on a national blitz, recruiting 8,000 of the nation’s best and brightest, including the trailblazing astronauts who became the first African American, Asian and Latino men and women to fly in space.”

Woman in Motion is directed by Todd Thompson and features appearances by Michael Dorn and George Takei, as well as actor Vivica A. Fox, Astronauts Winston Scott and Eileen Collins, and musician Pharrell Williams, among others. In April, viewers were treated to a “first look” at the film’s work in progress, on the Opening Night of the Florida Film Festival. Recently, Thompson also took the film to the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival, near his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, for a “sneak peek”.

A visit to the Woman in Motion website is an interesting one. In addition to more information about the film (and you can sign up for updates as well), you can also download what they call “The NASA Files”. According to the website, “Upon successfully completing her mission with NASA, Nichelle submitted a 400 page report documenting every moment of her 4-month, daunting journey. The Executive Summary she wrote as an introduction to her report is available here to download and is truly a historical time capsule that both enlightens and  inspires.”

The 20-page document is an inspirational look back at the space program of the late 1970s, and well worth a read. This is just the first paragraph of the introduction:

“At the signing of contract NASW-3049 in February, 1977, approximately 1500 applications for pilot and mission specialist astronauts had been received by the Astronaut Office. Of these, approximately 30 were identifiable as minorities and only 75 were women. The NASA, perceiving a necessity for the human development of minorities in mathematics, science and engineering and the need for the encouragement of the broad participation of minorities and women in the space program, engaged Women In Motion, Inc. to embark on a review of NASA recruitment activities and a concerted effort to inform minorities and women of the opportunities available in the program and to encourage their active participation. The importance of the Space Shuttle Program to the space effort of the United States must be appreciated by all facets of American society if the program is to grow and flourish and fulfill the greatest possible good for the greatest number of people.”

To read the “The NASA Files” and get more information on the Nichelle Nichols documentary Woman in Motion, visit Woman in Motion’s website.

Update: An earlier version of this story said that Woman in Motion premiered at the Florida Film Festival and featured at the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival. Those events were a “first look” and “sneak peek”, respectively; the film has not yet officially premiered as of the time of writing.