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Crewed Spaceflight Salyut

Salyut 2: first military space station

Salyut 2The Soviet Union launches a second space station, and the first station designed exclusively for military tasks in orbit. Salyut 2 is the first station to use the Almaz military space station design devised in the 1960s as a response to the US Air Force’s never-flown Manned Orbiting Laboratory. Within two weeks, however, technical difficulties take their toll: Salyut 2 begins to tumble out of control, and its crew compartment depressurizes. (The redesigned Soyuz vehicle is not ready to fly yet, so no crew ever visits Salyut 2.) The second Soviet space station burns up in the atmosphere less than two months after launch.

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Television

The Next Step Beyond: Cry Baby

The Next Step BeyondThe week-long syndication window opens for the 14th episode of The Next Step Beyond, a revival of the 1950s/60s supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland.

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Television

Blake’s 7: Star One

Blake's 7BBC1 premieres the 26th episode of Terry Nation’s science fiction series Blake’s 7. This season-ending episode concludes the story arc concerning Blake’s search for the Federation’s central control facility, and sees the exit of some of the show’s regulars, inclduing Jenna Knyvette (Jenna), Brian Croucher (Travis) and even Gareth Thomas (Blake).

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Computers

Osborne I Portable Computer

Osborne IThe Osborne One portable computer is given its public debut at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco. Despite being billed as “portable”, the computer is huge – packing 5¼” floppy disk drives and a tiny CRT monitor and a full-sized keyboard into a suitcase-sized enclosure, it weighs at least 30 pounds. The Osborne I’s native operating system is CP/M.

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Crewed Spaceflight Salyut Soyuz

Soyuz T-11

Soyuz T-11The Soviet Union launches Soyuz T-11 en route to space station Salyut 7. Spending nearly eight days in orbit, cosmonauts Yuri Malyshev, Gennady Strekalov and the first space traveler from India, Rakesh Sharma, perform experiments aboard the station as well as bringing supplies. They return to Earth on April 11th aboard the station crew’s Soyuz T-10 capsule, leaving the newer Soyuz T-11 docked at Salyut 7 for the station crew’s use.

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Uncrewed Spaceflight Voyager

Voyager 2 and the Great Dark Spot

Neptune's Great Dark SpotImages transmitted to Earth by NASA’s unmanned Voyager 2 spacecraft, from a distance of 129,000,000 miles, reveal a consistent feature in Neptune’s atmosphere, an oval-shaped storm system near the Neptunian equator very similar in size and position to the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. This storm, quickly nicknamed the Great Dark Spot, allows Voyager scientists to estimate Neptune’s rotational period much earlier than expected. At the distance between Voyager 2 and Neptune, the smallest features on the planet that can be seen are at least 2,400 miles across, meaning the newly detected storm system is gigantic.

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Television

Nightmare Cafe: Aliens Ate My Lunch

Nightmare CafeNBC airs the sixth episode of Wes Craven’s Nightmare Cafe, starring Robert Englund (V, A Nightmare On Elm Street), Jack Coleman (Heroes), and Lindsay Frost (Mancuso, FBI). Bobby Slayton, Kevin Thompson, and Don S. Davis (Stargate SG-1) guest star. NBC cancels the series, freeing Craven and Englund up to resume their usual nightmares.

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Television

Young Indiana Jones And The Scandal Of 1920

Young Indiana Jones ChroniclesThe 14th episode of George Lucas’ historical adventure series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles airs on ABC, starring Sean Patrick Flanery. Anne Heche (Wag The Dog), Jeffrey Wright (Westworld), and Robert Trebor (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys) guest star.

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Deaths Matters of Life & Death

Johnny Byrne, Space: 1999 writer, dies

Space: 1999Space: 1999 and Doctor Who scriptwriter Johnny Byrne dies at the age of 73. One of the most prolific Space: 1999 scribes, he helped to guide that show’s creative direction as the show’s script editor and later collaborated with fan filmmakers on a short, Message From Moonbase Alpha, wrapping the show up and leaving things open to further explore the story with new characters. He also had a literary SF career stretching back into the 1960s, as well as writing the screenplays for several British-produced films.

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Doctor Who Television

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour

Doctor WhoThe 759th episode of Doctor Who (the 61st since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. This is the first full episode to feature Matt Smith as the eleventh Doctor, and introduces Karen Gillan as new companion Amy Pond (and Steven Moffat as the series’ showrunner). Arthur Darvill makes his first appearance as Rory; astronomer Sir Patrick Moore guest stars as himself.

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