Categories
Crewed Spaceflight Mercury

Mercury 9

Mercury 9The final manned Mercury flight, Mercury 9 (nicknamed Faith 7) puts astronaut Gordon Cooper in orbit for over a day. Over the course of 34 hours, Cooper circles Earth 22 times, performing small-scale experiments and photography tasks. With Mercury astronaut Deke Slayton grounded due to health issues, only six of the Mercury seven have flown. Development of a two-seater descendant of the Mercury design (initially called “Big Mercury” but now known as Gemini) is well underway, along with the development of the Apollo spacecraft that will succeed Gemini and take men to the moon. Cooper is the last solo American space pilot until Mike Melvill flies the experimental SpaceShip One into suborbital space in the 21st century.

Categories
Science & Technology Uncrewed Spaceflight Weather & Climate

Nimbus 2

NimbusNASA launches the Nimbus 2 satellite, designed to observe weather patterns from orbit and test new weather and climate detection technologies. Nimbus 2’s only means of data storage fails within weeks, and that system’s only backup fails later in the year. Nimbus 2 is shut down in 1969 when the system it uses to maintain orientation to Earth’s horizon also fails.

Categories
Television

King Of The Castle: Episode 2

King Of The CastleThe second episode of children’s fantasy series King Of The Castle is broasdcast on HTV. The series is created by Bristol-based writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin (Sky, Doctor Who), and stars Philip Da Costa. Talfryn Thomas (Survivors) and Milton Johns (Doctor Who, The Empire Strikes Back) also star.

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

Categories
Magellan Uncrewed Spaceflight

More from Magellan the mapmaker

VenusNASA’s Magellan space probe, which has been mapping the planet Venus from orbit since September 1990, completes the first phase of its map-making mission, completing radar imaging of more than 80% of the planet’s surface. NASA authorizes an extended mission, lasting into 1992, which will yield a more complete map of the Venusian surface, including its polar regions.

Categories
Television

Highlander: Nowhere To Run

HighlanderThe week-long national syndication window opens for the 21st episode of the fantasy series Highlander, starring Adrian Paul (War Of The Worlds), Alexandra Vandernoort, and Stan Kirsch, and based on the mythology created in the 1986 movie of the same name. Anthony Stewart Head (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) guest stars.

This series is not yet fully chronicled in the LogBook. You could help change that. More about Highlander in the LogBook

Categories
Atlantis Crewed Spaceflight Mir Space Shuttle

STS-84: sixth Shuttle-Mir docking

Space ShuttleSpace Shuttle Atlantis lifts off on the 84th shuttle mission, a ten-day flight with a visit to the Mir space station. Among the supplies hauled to Mir by Atlantis is a new oxygen generator to replace one damaged by a fire aboard the station in February. The crew for Atlantis’ 18th flight is Commander Charles Precourt, Pilot Eileen Collins, mission specialists Michael Foale, Carlos Noriega, Edward Lu, Jean-Francois Clervoy and cosmonaut Elena Kondakova. Foale remains to take up residence on Mir, while American astronaut Jerry Linenger leaves the station to return with the shuttle crew, having spent 132 days in space.

Categories
Television

Dark Angel: Meow

Dark AngelThe 20th episode of James Cameron & Charles H. Eglee’s cyberpunk series Dark Angel, starring Jessica Alba and Michael Weatherly, airs on Fox. Lisa Ann Cabasa and Nana Visitor (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) guest star.

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

Categories
Deaths Matters of Life & Death

Alexander Courage, Star Trek composer, dies

Star TrekComposer, arranger and orchestrator Alexander Courage, composer of the theme from the original Star Trek, dies at the age of 88. Courage was responsible for writing the iconic main theme as well as the scores for the show’s two pilot episodes. When Star Trek went to series, however, Roddenberry – ahead of the curve on almost every imaginable marketing angle – wrote and published lyrics to Courage’s theme, thereby earning 50% of the profit from any future use of that music, a move which alienated the composer. Due to Star Trek using a library approach to its music, however, Courage’s music resurfaced in almost every episode in some capacity. Courage began orchestrating and arranging for other composers, including John Williams (The Poseidon Adventure, Jurassic Park) and Jerry Goldsmith, who asked Courage to write a few pieces for 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture which utilized the original TV theme.