Just seeing it now that Nichelle Nichols aka Uhura in Star Trek TOS has died

we lose another great, RIP to a trail blazer

What a lady she was, a class act throughout.

RIP Commander Uhura.

RIP, and close hailing frequencies Lt. There goes another legend this week.

Uhura forms many of my early memories of Trek, specifically since my earliest Trek memories revolve around Wrath of Khan. She led weight to a lot of the more dramatic scenes in that film such as when she devastatingly declared Khan's demand for terms of surrender, the creeping horror of the Regula station with her face and voice calling out for an answer from a mostly dead crew and the final triumphant demand for Reliant's surrender near the end.

I don't think anyone else could have done this role are well as her.

R.I.P – NICHELLE NICHOLS, our elegant Lady of Communications – 1932 to 2022

Marc Zicree (Mr. Sci-fi) tribute: -

Nichelle Nichols -- When Magic Came Into My Life!

Has a clip from Space Command, probably one of her last filming appearances?,

Not her last, she has been credited for 12 to Midnight (TV Series) and 3 others in production.

Better a scientist/engineer to captain a science vessel than someone who's always been on the command track or came from security and I'm sure they usually give the science background captains low bar first assignments that absolutely won't result in being flung across the galaxy looking at a 70 year journey home.

There's also holding the rank of captain doesn't necessarily make you a ship's captain, I don't think Scotty ever had a command but he was probably stuck in a staff position instead of an engine room by the end of his career.

That's actually kind of interesting, I can't wait to see how they make a complete mess of it.

I meant more in the sense when you're parked taking sensor readings of an anomaly or charting a nebula as a scientist or engineer you're interested in that sort of thing and it'll keep you occupied whereas a captain from a different track will be bored silly without much to do.

Same for Crusher's Beverly Picard's ship was a medical ship so when it's parked in orbit providing medical relief she'd have something else to do besides "Helm are we still in standard orbit?" And it's not like it came out of nowhere she'd been established to take bridge shifts in the big chair. IIRC Uhura was also the fourth in command of the Enterprise during TOS too so not an unbelievable stretch.

Your Expanse example lines up more with my interpretation. Janus was a military officer and scientist, they didn't send a career line officer to command the ship, the issue there was it was a commandeered civilian ship not used to running in military fashion. The silent J joke really made his name stick in my mind.

That’s the thing about the love of Trek, we care about what happens to the characters (usually).

Upon losing her it makes sense to reflect on Uhura’s character and what happened to her. It’s not beyond the norms of what we’ve seen for a Senior officer to eventually reach captian. Hell, *Sonya Gomez* made captain eventually, and you can just imagine how many senior officers she’s spilled hot drinks onto in the process. (I know it’s Lower Decks, but I’m counting it as canon dammit!!)

LaForge made captain of a ship (alternate timeline, but still) and I get the feeling that there’s a good chance of this happening if you spend time as a department head. I get the impression that Janeway was also a Chief Engineer before moving to command devision too. Uhura could totally have been a captain, and my imagination paints a picture of her being awesome at it. A fitting final send off for such a great character.

Janeway was a science officer before going into command. One of her posts was on a then Captain Paris' ship

See Nichelle Nichols In Rare Uhura Footage Just Released By The Smithsonian

The Smithsonian museum has released footage of What’s In it for Me? It is a short film produced by Nichols’ company Women in Motion for the National Air and Space Museum, the footage can be seen below.