Today in 1966, the ground-breaking science fiction series Star Trek made its U.S. debut (it had debuted two days earlier in Canada). The episode aired was "The Man Trap," although this wasn't the pilot episode for the series. As everyone knows, Star Trek has gone on to become arguably the greatest sci-fi franchise in entertainment history. Not too shabby for humble (and initially polarizing) beginnings on NBC.
Today in 1993, Star Trek: The Next Generation aired their sixth-season episode "Second Chances." It was Geordi La Forge actor LaVar Burton's directorial debut. It was also the first time a real astronaut was cast as a guest actor on the series. Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman to travel in space, was cast as Lt. Palmer. She was good friends with actress Nichelle Nichols (who starred as Comm. Officer Nyota Uhura on the original Star Trek series). Jemison has since appeared in several documentaries about Star Trek and, along with LaVar Burton, is part of the 100 Year Starship Initiative, a program dedicated to…