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Pioneer Uncrewed Spaceflight

Pioneer 4

Pioneer 4NASA’s Pioneer 4 space probe is launched toward the moon atop a Juno II booster. For the first time in the Pioneer program, the target is reached, with Pioneer 4 passing the moon at a distance of 37,000 miles. The television camera designed to activate just in time to catch the first glimpse of the lunar far side fails to deploy, thanks to a light sensor that isn’t tripped by the light reflected from the moon. Measurements of radiation near the moon are taken and transmitted back to Earth before Pioneer 4 slides into an orbit around the sun.

Categories
Apollo Crewed Spaceflight

Apollo 9

Apollo 9Apollo 9 lifts off on a ten-day mission to test the first lunar lander, but only in Earth orbit. Jim McDivitt and Rusty Schweickart put the lunar module, nicknamed Spider, through its paces, while David Scott mans the command module Gumdrop. This is the first flight of the completely non-aerodynamic lunar module, and various docking maneuvers and spacewalk scenarios are practiced. The crew returns to Earth in the Apollo command module, while Spider is left in a low orbit which decays two weeks later, allowing it to disintegrate in Earth’s atmosphere.

This mission is dramatized in the Spider episode of HBO’s 1998 series From The Earth To The Moon.

Categories
Television

The Evil Touch: Gornak’s Prism

The Evil TouchThe 21st episode of the horror anthology series The Evil Touch airs on Australia’s Nine Network, hosted by Anthony Quayle (Strange Report). (The series will later appear in the U.S. and elsewhere in first-run syndication.) Darren McGavin (Kolchak: The Night Stalker) guest stars and directs.

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Television

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Killed By Death

Buffy The Vampire SlayerThe 30th episode of Joss Whedon’s trend-setting supernatural series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, airs on the WB network. Anthony Stewart Head, David Boreanaz, and Alyson Hannigan also star. Richard Herd (V, Star Trek: Voyager) guest stars.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could help change that.

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Television X-Files

The X-Files: Provenance

The X-FilesThe 191st episode of Chris Carter’s modern-day science fiction series The X-Files airs on Fox, starring Gillian Anderson, Robert Patrick, and Annabeth Gish. Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride, Twister) guest stars.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could help change that.

Categories
Television

Jeremiah: The Long Road

JeremiahPay cable channel Showtime premieres the first episode of J. Michael Straczynski’s post-apocalyptic series Jeremiah, based on a popular comic of the same name from Hungary. Luke Perry (Beverly Hills 90210) and Malcolm Jamal-Warner (The Cosby Show) star; guest stars in the pilot include Teryl Rothery (Stargate SG-1) and future Battlestar Galactica regulars Tricia Helfer and Kandyse McClure.

More about Jeremiah in the LogBook and theLogBook.com Store
Jeremiah now streaming on Amazon Prime
Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 Podcast

Categories
Deaths Matters of Life & Death

Cecily Adams, DS9’s “Moogie”, dies

Cecily AdamsActress and casting director Cecily Adams, known to fans of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Quark’s mother, Ishka (also known affectionately as “Moogie”), dies due to lung cancer. The daughter of Get Smart! star Don Adams, Ms. Adams had made appearances on DS9, Total Recall: 2070, Murphy Brown and Home Improvement. Behind the scenes, she lent her casting expertise to such series as Third Rock From The Sun, That 70s Show, Eerie, Indiana, and many others. She is survived by her husband and a two-year-old daughter.

Categories
Deaths Matters of Life & Death Movies Star Wars

Ralph McQuarrie, Star Wars illustrator, dies

Star Wars, as envisioned by Ralph McQuarrieRalph McQuarrie, the artist who envisioned key scenes and settings of the Star Wars universe, before sets or models were built and before filming began, dies at the age of 82. As the production artist for Star Wars, McQuarrie got his licks in early on how the “universe” should look, from costumes to spacecraft to weaponry. George Lucas credited McQuarrie’s artwork with keeping the movies’ “look” on track, as well as selling 20th Century Fox on the idea of financing the first movie in the absence of any kind of test footage. McQuarrie also provided concepts for a redesigned U.S.S. Enterprise for an early ‘70s Star Trek movie project, Star Trek: Planet Of The Titans, that ultimately went unfilmed. He also contributed early concept art to Battlestar Galactica, E.T., Cocoon, Batteries Not Included, and many others, and had also worked on the animated artists’ conceptions of the Apollo moon missions played during CBS’ coverage of those flights.