Dorothy Catherine "D.C." Fontana, the very first female writer to work on Star Trek, has passed away at the age of 80.
According to StarTrek.com, she died peacefully on Monday evening following a short unspecified illness.
After a brief stint working with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry on The Lieutenant, Fontana did some work on the sci-fi series and eventually became story editor -- a role she would remain in until the end of Season 2. Following that, she worked on Star Trek: The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and several of the franchise's licensed video games.
Outside of Star Trek, Fontana's writing credits include Bonanza, The Six Million Dollar Man, Land of the Lost, Logan's Run, The Waltons, Dallas, Babylon 5 and much, much more.
Sadly, Fontana isn't the only Star Trek alum we've lost this year. In September, Aron Eisenberg, who played Nog on Deep Space Nine, passed away at the age of 50.
Fontana is survived by her husband Dennis Skotak and her family has requested memorial donations be made to the Humane Society, the Best Friends Animal Society or the American Film Institute.