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Phobos Uncrewed Spaceflight

Phobos 1 and the curse of Mars

PhobosThe Soviet Union loses contact with the Phobos 1 unmanned Mars probe during its interplanetary flight and is unable to re-establish contact. The cause of the vehicle’s loss is later traced to a typo in a single line of command code uplinked to its computer from the ground; this error changes a routine command to a command to shut down attitude control, leaving Phobos 1 tumbling through space, unable to point its antenna toward Earth. The mission is a complete loss.

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Crewed Spaceflight Soyuz

Did you go before leaving the space station?

Soyuz TM-6Cosmonauts Vladimir Lyakhov and Abdul Ahad Mohmand, the first Afghan in space, undock from the Mir space station and prepare to return home, jettisoning the orbital module of their Soyuz TM-5 space capsule per standard procedure. But their descent module – the only part of a Soyuz that ever returns to Earth intact – experiences numerous technical glitches, and ground controllers in the Soviet Union order them to stay in orbit for an extra day. That’s easy enough for engineers on Earth to say: the abandoned orbital module contains the only toilet facilities on a Soyuz spacecraft, leaving the crew to hold everything until their return on September 7th; there is also no fresh water available. Needless to say, Soviet mission planners redraw the rules of future missions to keep the orbital module attached until the last possible moment with safety guidelines.

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Television

Red Dwarf: Kryten

Red DwarfThe seventh episode of the science fiction comedy Red Dwarf airs on BBC 2. This episode, the second season opener, introduces the character of Kryten, though Kryten doesn’t stay aboard Red Dwarf until his next appearance in the third season. This is the only episode in which Kryten is played by David Ross (Robert Llewellyn plays the role when Kryten becomes a regular fixture).

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Music

Schnell Fenster: The Sound Of Trees

Schnell FensterThe Schnell Fenster album The Sound Of Trees is released in America by Atlantic Records (having already been issued by EMI in Australia and New Zealand). The band is formed around former members of Split Enz, including founding guitarist Phil Judd, percussionist Noel Crombie, ’80s bassist Nigel Griggs, and guitarist Michael den Elzen (the only member of the group not to have played for Split Enz, though he has been a session player on a Tim Finn solo album). The single “Whisper” fails to take off in the States and the band breaks up after running up significant debts trying to promote the album.

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Franchises Television Twilight Zone

Twilight Zone: The Curious Case Of Edgar Witherspoon

The Twilight ZoneThe 36th episode of a revival of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone airs in syndication. Harry Morgan (M*A*S*H) stars in the third season premiere. The third season, still produced by CBS despite the cancellation of the series on the network’s schedule, is produced in Canada with the intention of increasing the number of episodes to make further syndication of the new Twilight Zone viable. The third season is overseen by Mark Shelmerdine (I, Claudius) and J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5, Jeremiah, Sense8), and is reformatted into single-story, half-hour episodes.

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Crewed Spaceflight Discovery Space Shuttle

STS-26

DiscoveryThe first Space Shuttle launch in over two years since the Challenger accident, Discovery lifts off on a flight to test improved safety systems and procedures. The shuttle’s major payload is the second TDRS (Tracking & Data Relay Satellite) launched by NASA (an identical satellite was lost in the Challenger explosion in 1986), as well as numerous smaller experiments. Problems with Discovery’s environmental system cause the crew cabin to be warmer than usual. Discovery’s crew for this flight consists of Commander Fred Hauck, Pilot Richard Covey, and mission specialists John Lounge, George Nelson, and David Hilmers.

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Doctor Who Television

Doctor Who: Remembrance Of The Daleks 1

Doctor WhoThe 670th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Michael Sheard, Simon Williams and Terry Molloy guest star in the opening story of the 25th season. The Daleks make their first appearance since 1985, and this is the final original series story to feature them. This episode also marks a major shift away from the comedy-oriented stories of the 1986 and 1987 seasons.

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Television

Superboy: The Jewel Of Techacal

SuperboyThe first episode of the syndicated Alexander and Ilya Salkind-produced Superboy series, starring John Haymes Newton and Stacy Haiduk, premieres. The premiere episode is written by Fred Freiberger, the producer behind Beyond Westworld and the final seasons of Star Trek and Space: 1999.

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Television

Freddy’s Nightmares: No More Mr. Nice Guy

Freddy's NightmaresThe first episode of the horror anthology series Freddy’s Nightmares is broadcast in syndication in North America, hosted by Robert Englund in character as Freddy Krueger. The first episode, directed by Tobe Hooper, recounts the trial and execution of Krueger, as alluded to in the A Nightmare On Elm Street movie franchise.

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Doctor Who Television

Doctor Who: Remembrance Of The Daleks 2

Doctor WhoThe 671st episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Michael Sheard, Simon Williams and Terry Molloy guest star in the opening story of the 25th season. The Daleks make their first appearance since 1985, and this is the final original series story to feature them. This episode also marks a major shift away from the comedy-oriented stories of the 1986 and 1987 seasons.

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Television

Superboy: A Kind Of Princess

SuperboyThe second episode of the syndicated Alexander and Ilya Salkind-produced Superboy series, starring John Haymes Newton and Stacy Haiduk, airs. Julie McCullough (Growing Pains, Robin’s Hoods) guest stars.

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Doctor Who Television

Doctor Who: Remembrance Of The Daleks 3

Doctor WhoThe 672nd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Michael Sheard, Simon Williams and Terry Molloy guest star in the opening story of the 25th season. The Daleks make their first appearance since 1985, and this is the final original series story to feature them. This episode also marks a major shift away from the comedy-oriented stories of the 1986 and 1987 seasons.

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Television

Superboy: Back To Oblivion

SuperboyThe third episode of the syndicated Alexander and Ilya Salkind-produced Superboy series, starring John Haymes Newton and Stacy Haiduk, airs. Abe Vigoda (Barney Miller) guest stars in an episode written by Fred Freiberger.

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