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Crewed Spaceflight Gemini

Gemini 8: spinning out of control

Gemini 8Gemini 8, carrying David Scott and Neil Armstrong, lifts off on a mission to fulfill the Agena booster rendezvous and docking goal originally assigned to Gemini 6. After docking with the Agena vehicle a few hours into the flight, Gemini 8 begins an unplanned, uncontrolled roll, and the crew initially believe it to be an issue with the Agena. But after undocking from the Agena, the Gemini capsule spins even faster out of control until Armstrong, using maneuvering thrusters reserved for reentry, cancels out the roll. Mission rules require an immediate return to Earth, and the astronauts splash down safely, barely 11 hours after liftoff.

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Mariner Uncrewed Spaceflight

Mariner 10: one last visit to Mercury

Mariner 10The NASA/JPL probe to the inner planets, Mariner 10, makes its last flyby of Mercury, zipping over the planet’s north pole at an altitude of just over 200 miles, and taking the last close-up pictures of Mercury until the Messenger space probe in 2008. Just over a week after its final Mercury encounter, Mariner 10 runs out of fuel and is instructed to shut down. The next Mariner probes, Mariners 11 and 12, are slated to venture toward the outer solar system, and eventually undergo a name change, becoming Voyagers 1 and 2 – making Mariner 10 the last of the Mariner space probes.

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Video Games

Zaxxon

ZaxxonSega introduces the cult classic arcade game Zaxxon, significantly raising the bar for arcade graphics with its three-quarter isometric 3-D view (and making it nearly impossible to translate faithfully to home video game consoles of the era). Though this new perspective doesn’t make Zaxxon easy to play, it becomes one of the first video games that players line up just to look at.

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Doctor Who Television

Doctor Who: The King’s Demons, Part 2

Doctor WhoThe 601st episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Anthony Ainley guest stars as the Master, and the episode introduces a robotic companion intended to be portrayed by a real robot, Kamelion. Kamelion’s designer dies prior to production, however, leaving minimal documentation for the robot’s operation; Kamelion’s further appearances are written out of the show and the robot only makes one further appearance. This brings Doctor Who’s 20th season to a close; the 20th anniversary special, The Five Doctors, airs later in the year as a stand-alone with a budget and production schedule separate from the rest of the season’s episodes.

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Television

Super Force: Breakfast Of Champions

Super ForceThe 21st episode 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). Julie Michaels (Road House) guest stars.

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Television

Hypernauts: Battle At Vekara

HypernautsABC airs the fourth episode of Hypernauts, created by Christy Marx (Jem) and Ron Thornton (the visual effects artist behind the CGI of Babylon 5), and starring Marc Daniel (Fast Track) and Carrie Dobro (Crusade). Richard Speight Jr. (Supernatural, Jericho) guest stars.

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Television

Total Recall 2070: Brain Fever

Total Recall 2070Canadian broadcaster CHCH-TV airs the tenth episode of Art Monterastelli’s sci-fi series Total Recall 2070, starring Michael Easton and Cynthia Preston, very loosely based on the 1990 film Total Recall. The series will air on the American pay cable channel Showtime later in the year. David Warner (Time Bandits, Tron) guest stars.

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