theLogBook.com is a chronicle of how we used to imagine the future – an ever-expanding logbook of what our entertainment, our culture, and even our brightest minds thought would happen. It’s nostalgia – and some real history – that gives factual context to the fiction, cultural context to the factual, and always looks to the future.
The ongoing remodel of the site, the ongoing video series, and more are powered by your support! Join our Patreon, get access to our Discord, and help the site grow!
Soyuz MS-19 is launched to the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying a three-person crew (the first all-Russian Soyuz crew since Soyuz TM-30 in 2000) to a brief stay aboard the International Space Station. Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, a veteran of three previous flights, commands and pilots the mission, whose other crewmembers, film director Klim Shipenko and actress Yulia Peresild, are passengers visiting the station to shoot approximately 40 minutes of footage for a movie to be released at a later date. The revival of “space tourism” aboard the ISS sparks new controversy about the topic, particularly within the Russian space program, mirroring similar controversy surrounding the burgeoning suborbital passenger spaceflight industry. Shipenko and Peresild return to Earth after 12 days aboard the ISS, catching a ride home aboard Soyuz MS-18 alongside returning ISS Commander Oleg Novitskiy; Shkaplerov remains aboard the ISS to assume command. Soyuz MS-19 will return the current ISS crew to Earth in March 2022.
Streaming service CBS All Access debuts the fifth episode of Short Treks, a series of 15-20 minute short stories set in the Star Trek universe (in this instance, with scenes on the U.S.S. Enterprise prior to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds). Ethan Peck and Rebecca Romijn guest star in a short that seems like a trial run of (yet to be announced) Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Commercial spaceflight operator Blue Origin, owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, launches its sixth New Shepard flight. To conduct a live test of survivability of the launch abort system, the capsule is commanded to blast free of its booster at Max-Q (the moment of maximum aerodynamic pressure on the combined vehicle). The uncrewed (but human-rated) capsule survives the simulated emergency separation and lands safely, but surprisingly, the single-stage suborbital booster also recovers from the stress of the abort test and lands safely near Blue Origin’s Texas launch facility. This is the fifth and final flight for the second New Shepard reusable capsule, as well as the fifth and final flight for the second New Shepard reusable booster. Flight tests will resume in late 2017 with a new booster and capsule.
The 93rd episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW. Chad L. Coleman (The Expanse, The Orville) guest stars in the fifth season premiere.
ABC airs the 27th episode of the J.J. Abrams-produced series Lost. Henry Ian Cusick, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Katey Sagal (Married With Children) guest star; this episode introduces the Dharma Initiative to the series’ mysterious backstory.
The 15th episode of the radio science fiction comedy series The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy is broadcast on BBC Radio, continuing Dirk Maggs’ adaptation of Douglas Adams’ novel Life, The Universe, And Everything with most of the original radio cast. An archival audiobook recording of the late Douglas Adams allows the Hitchhiker’s Guide creator to play the part of Agrajag.
Silva Screen Records releases the soundtrack album Space: 1999: Year Two, a collection of highlights from composer Derek Wadsworth’s pop-and-disco-styled reinvention of the show’s sound.
The 23rd episode of James Cameron & Charles H. Eglee’s cyberpunk series Dark Angel, starring Jessica Alba and Michael Weatherly, airs on Fox. John Savage, Nana Visitor (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), and Nicki Clyne (Battlestar Galactica) guest star.
The 57th episode of Joss Whedon’s supernatural series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, airs on the WB network. Anthony Stewart Head and Alyson Hannigan also star. Pedro Pascal (Game Of Thrones, The Mandalorian) guest stars in the fourth season premiere.
The eighth episode of the Sci-Fi Channel original series Welcome To Paradox airs, a loosely-connected anthology of science fiction stories set in Betaville, a utopian future city whose incredible technology has frequently unintended side-effects. Zachary Ansley (Mercy Point) stars in a story based on the works of SF author E.G. Von Wald.
The 23rd episode of Gene Roddenberry’s Earth: Final Conflict airs in syndication, starring Robert Leeshock, Lisa Howard, Von Flores, and Richard Chevolleau. Leeshock plays the series’ new lead character, replacing Kevin Kiner from the first season. This episode is the first of a series of major rethinks of the series’ format (and accompanying recasting).
The ninth episode of George Lucas’ historical adventure series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles airs on ABC, starring Sean Patrick Flanery. Jason Flemyng (Primeval, Pennyworth) and Sean Pertwee (Gotham) guest star.
NBC airs the 32nd episode of Donald Bellisario’s science fiction series Quantum Leap, starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. Andrea Thompson (Babylon 5), Tia Carrere (Relic Hunter), and Patrick Warburton (The Tick) guest star.
The pilot movie of the science fiction crime drama Super Force is broadcast in syndication in North America, starring Ken Olandt, Larry B. Scott, and Patrick Macnee (The Avengers). All future episodes will be 30 minutes long (with commercials), and in future reruns, the two-hour premiere will be broken up into four episodes: parts one and two of A Hero’s Welcome, and parts one and two of Too Late The Hero.
The 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.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the second episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This episode becomes an immediate lightning rod of criticism since it almost duplicates a popular episode of the original Star Trek (and even points this out in the course of its story). Data also shows Lt. Yar that he is fully functional.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the second episode of Friday the 13th: The Series, starring John D. LeMay, Wendy Robie and Chris Wiggins. Colin Fox (Psi Factor: Chronicles Of The Paranormal) guest stars.
Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off on an eight-day mission, the first shuttle mission with a seven-person crew, which also happens to be the first American shuttle crew with two women on board. A satellite to study radiation around the Earth is deployed, along with an experiment to study the feasibility of refueling empty satellites to extend their service life. Challenger’s crew for this flight consists of Commander Robert Crippen, Pilot Jon McBride, mission specialists Kathryn Sullivan, Sally Ride, David Leestma and payload specialists Marc Garneau and Paul Scully-Power.
The second episode of Carl Sagan’s groundbreaking science documentary series Cosmos premieres on PBS. A popular history of science and scientific theory vs. tradition and superstition, segueing into Sagan’s field of expertise (astrophysics), Cosmos is a major milestone in American documentary filmmaking and the popularization of science and the scientific method (and makes an instant celebrity out of Sagan).
The 38th episode of the live-action series based on Marvel’s comic The Incredible Hulk airs on CBS, starring Bill Bixby, Jack Colvin, and Lou Ferrigno. June Allyson guest stars.
The 25th episode of Star Blazers, an English rewrite and dub of the 1974 anime series Space Battleship Yamato, premieres in syndication across the U.S.
The 16th episode of Harold Jack Bloom’s sci-fi series Project UFO airs on NBC, portraying fictionalized investigations into what the show claims are actual cases from the U.S. Air Force’s Project Blue Book investigations. Edward Winter and Caskey Swaim star. Rudolph Mantooth (Emergency!) guest stars.
MCA Records releases Stu Phillips‘ soundtrack from the TV and theatrical premiere of Battlestar Galactica on LP. (This album will be reissued on CD in 1993, and the contents of it will appear on numerous compilations of music from this show for years to come; a re-recording of this album with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra will also follow in the ’90s.)
A California judge sides with 20th Century Fox and Kenner Toys in a million-dollar lawsuit against Hong Kong-based toymaker Arco Industries. At issue in the suit is Arco’s “Spacewar” line of action figures, clearly meant to barely resemble such Star Wars characters as Darth Vader, C-3PO and stormtroopers without actually securing the licensing to do so. Kenner contends that the knock-off toys have been eating into its profits, and Arco is far from the only company to suddenly release generic space figures with designs and sculpts that are suspiciously close to elements of the Star Wars universe.
The 39th episode of The Six Million Dollar Man is broadcast on ABC, starring Lee Majors and Richard Anderson. Sonny Bono (The Sonny & Cher Show) guest stars.
The fifth episode of Filmation’s live-action Shazam! series airs on CBS, starring Jackson Bostwick, Michael Gray and Les Tremayne. Ron Soble guest stars.
ITV airs the third episode of the mystery/spy-fi series Strange Report in the U.K., starring Anthony Quayle, Kaz Garas, and Anneke Wills (Doctor Who). (The series is an international co-production and airs in the United States on NBC.)
ABC broadcasts the fourth episode of the Filmation animated series Fantastic Voyage, based on the 1966 movie of the same name. Marvin Miller, Ted Knight, and Jane Webb lead the voice cast.
The 33rd episode of Irwin Allen’s science fiction series Lost In Space premieres on CBS, starring Guy Williams, June Lockhart, and Jonathan Harris. Wally Cox, best known as the voice of Underdog, guest stars.
Soyuz MS-19 is launched to the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying a three-person crew (the first all-Russian Soyuz crew since Soyuz TM-30 in 2000) to a brief stay aboard the International Space Station. Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, a veteran of three previous flights, commands and pilots the mission, whose other crewmembers, film director Klim Shipenko and actress Yulia Peresild, are passengers visiting the station to shoot approximately 40 minutes of footage for a movie to be released at a later date. The revival of “space tourism” aboard the ISS sparks new controversy about the topic, particularly within the Russian space program, mirroring similar controversy surrounding the burgeoning suborbital passenger spaceflight industry. Shipenko and Peresild return to Earth after 12 days aboard the ISS, catching a ride home aboard Soyuz MS-18 alongside returning ISS Commander Oleg Novitskiy; Shkaplerov remains aboard the ISS to assume command. Soyuz MS-19 will return the current ISS crew to Earth in March 2022.
Streaming service CBS All Access debuts the fifth episode of Short Treks, a series of 15-20 minute short stories set in the Star Trek universe (in this instance, with scenes on the U.S.S. Enterprise prior to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds). Ethan Peck and Rebecca Romijn guest star in a short that seems like a trial run of (yet to be announced) Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. 
Fox airs the fifth episode of the science fiction comedy-drama The Orville, starring and created by Seth McFarlane. Oscar winner Charlize Theron guest stars. 
Commercial spaceflight operator Blue Origin, owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, launches its sixth New Shepard flight. To conduct a live test of survivability of the launch abort system, the capsule is commanded to blast free of its booster at Max-Q (the moment of maximum aerodynamic pressure on the combined vehicle). The uncrewed (but human-rated) capsule survives the simulated emergency separation and lands safely, but surprisingly, the single-stage suborbital booster also recovers from the stress of the abort test and lands safely near Blue Origin’s Texas launch facility. This is the fifth and final flight for the second New Shepard reusable capsule, as well as the fifth and final flight for the second New Shepard reusable booster. Flight tests will resume in late 2017 with a new booster and capsule.
The 93rd episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW. Chad L. Coleman (The Expanse, The Orville) guest stars in the fifth season premiere.
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 62nd episode of Stargate Atlantis. Jewel Staite guest stars in the third season finale. 
The tenth and final webisode of Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance, a serialized story set immediately prior to the third season of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica, premieres on the Sci-Fi Channel’s website. 
ABC premieres the third episode of Shaun Cassidy’s sci-fi/horror series Invasion, starring William Fichtner (Contact), Eddie Cibrian, and Lisa Sheridan. Armin Shimerman (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) guest stars. 
ABC airs the 27th episode of the J.J. Abrams-produced series Lost. Henry Ian Cusick, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Katey Sagal (Married With Children) guest star; this episode introduces the Dharma Initiative to the series’ mysterious backstory. 
The William Shatner CD Has Been is released, featuring guest appearances by Brad Paisley, Henry Rollins and Ben Folds. 
The R.E.M. album Around the Sun is released, featuring the single “Leaving New York”. 
The 15th episode of the radio science fiction comedy series The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy is broadcast on BBC Radio, continuing Dirk Maggs’ adaptation of Douglas Adams’ novel Life, The Universe, And Everything with most of the original radio cast. An archival audiobook recording of the late Douglas Adams allows the Hitchhiker’s Guide creator to play the part of Agrajag. 
Silva Screen Records releases the soundtrack album Space: 1999: Year Two, a collection of highlights from composer Derek Wadsworth’s pop-and-disco-styled reinvention of the show’s sound. 
The 23rd episode of James Cameron & Charles H. Eglee’s cyberpunk series Dark Angel, starring Jessica Alba and Michael Weatherly, airs on Fox. John Savage, Nana Visitor (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), and Nicki Clyne (Battlestar Galactica) guest star.
Takara releases the fighting game Tatsunoko Fight for the Sony Playstation, featuring characters from Tatsunoko anime series such as Gatchaman, Tekkaman, and Casshan. 
The 57th episode of Joss Whedon’s supernatural series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, airs on the WB network. Anthony Stewart Head and Alyson Hannigan also star. Pedro Pascal (Game Of Thrones, The Mandalorian) guest stars in the fourth season premiere.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 150th episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Brock Peters guest stars. 
The eighth episode of the Sci-Fi Channel original series Welcome To Paradox airs, a loosely-connected anthology of science fiction stories set in Betaville, a utopian future city whose incredible technology has frequently unintended side-effects. Zachary Ansley (Mercy Point) stars in a story based on the works of SF author E.G. Von Wald.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 70th episode of Xena: Warrior Princess, starring Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor. 
The 23rd episode of Gene Roddenberry’s Earth: Final Conflict airs in syndication, starring Robert Leeshock, Lisa Howard, Von Flores, and Richard Chevolleau. Leeshock plays the series’ new lead character, replacing Kevin Kiner from the first season. This episode is the first of a series of major rethinks of the series’ format (and accompanying recasting). 
Universal Music releases Merril Bainbridge‘s second album, Between The Days, featuring the single “Lonely”. 
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 128th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. 
The ninth episode of George Lucas’ historical adventure series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles airs on ABC, starring Sean Patrick Flanery. Jason Flemyng (Primeval, Pennyworth) and Sean Pertwee (Gotham) guest star.
NBC airs the 32nd episode of Donald Bellisario’s science fiction series Quantum Leap, starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. Andrea Thompson (Babylon 5), Tia Carrere (Relic Hunter), and Patrick Warburton (The Tick) guest star.
The pilot movie of the science fiction crime drama Super Force is broadcast in syndication in North America, starring Ken Olandt, Larry B. Scott, and Patrick Macnee (The Avengers). All future episodes will be 30 minutes long (with commercials), and in future reruns, the two-hour premiere will be broken up into four episodes: parts one and two of A Hero’s Welcome, and parts one and two of Too Late The Hero.
The 20th episode of Black Adder airs on BBC1, starring Rowan Atkinson. 
The 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. 
The 660th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Richard Briers guest stars as the Chief Caretaker. 
The week-long national syndication window opens for the second episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This episode becomes an immediate lightning rod of criticism since it almost duplicates a popular episode of the original Star Trek (and even points this out in the course of its story). Data also shows Lt. Yar that he is fully functional. 
The week-long national syndication window opens for the second episode of Friday the 13th: The Series, starring John D. LeMay, Wendy Robie and Chris Wiggins. Colin Fox (Psi Factor: Chronicles Of The Paranormal) guest stars. 
ABC broadcasts the fifth episode of the animated Star Wars spinoff series Droids, featuring the voice of Anthony Daniels as C-3PO. 
Space Shuttle Challenger lifts off on an eight-day mission, the first shuttle mission with a seven-person crew, which also happens to be the first American shuttle crew with two women on board. A satellite to study radiation around the Earth is deployed, along with an experiment to study the feasibility of refueling empty satellites to extend their service life. Challenger’s crew for this flight consists of Commander Robert Crippen, Pilot Jon McBride, mission specialists Kathryn Sullivan, Sally Ride, David Leestma and payload specialists Marc Garneau and Paul Scully-Power.
BBC1 premieres the 41st episode of Terry Nation’s science fiction series Blake’s 7, concluding the opening two-episode story of Avon and crew securing a new ship and base for themselves. 
The second episode of Carl Sagan’s groundbreaking science documentary series Cosmos premieres on PBS. A popular history of science and scientific theory vs. tradition and superstition, segueing into Sagan’s field of expertise (astrophysics), Cosmos is a major milestone in American documentary filmmaking and the popularization of science and the scientific method (and makes an instant celebrity out of Sagan).
The 38th episode of the live-action series based on Marvel’s comic The Incredible Hulk airs on CBS, starring Bill Bixby, Jack Colvin, and Lou Ferrigno. June Allyson guest stars.
The 25th episode of Star Blazers, an English rewrite and dub of the 1974 anime series Space Battleship Yamato, premieres in syndication across the U.S. 
A&M Records releases the The Police’s second album, Reggatta de Blanc, featuring the single “Message In A Bottle”. 
The 16th episode of Harold Jack Bloom’s sci-fi series Project UFO airs on NBC, portraying fictionalized investigations into what the show claims are actual cases from the U.S. Air Force’s Project Blue Book investigations. Edward Winter and Caskey Swaim star. Rudolph Mantooth (Emergency!) guest stars.
The fourth episode of the animated science fiction series Battle Of The Planets, The Space Serpent, airs nationwide in syndication. The series is a translation and English dub of the anime series Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman. 
MCA Records releases Stu Phillips‘ soundtrack from the TV and theatrical premiere of Battlestar Galactica on LP. (This album will be reissued on CD in 1993, and the contents of it will appear on numerous compilations of music from this show for years to come; a re-recording of this album with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra will also follow in the ’90s.) 
A California judge sides with 20th Century Fox and Kenner Toys in a million-dollar lawsuit against Hong Kong-based toymaker Arco Industries. At issue in the suit is Arco’s “Spacewar” line of action figures, clearly meant to barely resemble such Star Wars characters as Darth Vader, C-3PO and stormtroopers without actually securing the licensing to do so. Kenner contends that the knock-off toys have been eating into its profits, and Arco is far from the only company to suddenly release generic space figures with designs and sculpts that are suspiciously close to elements of the Star Wars universe.
The 39th episode of The Six Million Dollar Man is broadcast on ABC, starring Lee Majors and Richard Anderson. Sonny Bono (The Sonny & Cher Show) guest stars.
The 
The fifth episode of Land Of The Lost premieres on NBC. This episode is written by SF novelist Norman Spinrad. 
The fifth episode of Filmation’s live-action Shazam! series airs on CBS, starring Jackson Bostwick, Michael Gray and Les Tremayne. Ron Soble guest stars.
ITV airs the third episode of the mystery/spy-fi series Strange Report in the U.K., starring Anthony Quayle, Kaz Garas, and Anneke Wills (Doctor Who). (The series is an international co-production and airs in the United States on NBC.) 
ABC airs the 29th episode of Irwin Allen’s sci-fi series Land Of The Giants, starring Gary Conway, Don Matheson, Deanna Lund, and Don Marshall. 
The 218th episode of Doctor Who airs on the BBC. Bernard Horsfall guest stars.
ABC broadcasts the fourth episode of the Filmation animated series Fantastic Voyage, based on the 1966 movie of the same name. Marvin Miller, Ted Knight, and Jane Webb lead the voice cast.
The 33rd episode of Irwin Allen’s science fiction series Lost In Space premieres on CBS, starring Guy Williams, June Lockhart, and Jonathan Harris. Wally Cox, best known as the voice of Underdog, guest stars.