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Crewed Spaceflight Enterprise Space Shuttle

Enterprise in drydock

EnterpriseConstruction begins on OV-101, a Space Shuttle intended for extensive atmospheric test flight and landings without ever going into space. Originally intended to bear the name Constitution, a letter-writing campaign by Star Trek fans convinces President Gerald Ford to request that NASA rename the first shuttle Enterprise. Much of the first shuttle’s structural details are simply dummy models of the correct shape and weight; her engines are never intended to fire. Though plans are drawn up to convert Enterprise into a space-worthy vehicle, they are never carried out: it’s deemed cheaper and faster to upgrade a structural test model of the shuttle instead.

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Television

Project UFO Sighting 4013: The St. Hilary Incident

Project UFOThe 13th 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. William Jordan and Caskey Swaim star. Pamela Franklin guest stars in the first season finale.

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Movies Star Trek

Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan

Star TrekProduced and co-written by Harve Bennett (The Six Million Dollar Man, The Invisible Man) and directed by Nicholas Meyer, Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan debuts in theaters. The story follows up on the first season TV episode Space Seed, bringing back Ricardo Montalban (who is now a star thanks to his stint on ABC’s Fantasy Island) as Khan and introducing Kirstie Alley as a new member of the Enterprise crew. With faster pacing, increased action, and a more contemporary military sci-fi feel, the sequel is a hit that guarantees future sequels, as well as gradually increasing interest on Paramount’s part to return the franchise to television years later.

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Odyssey2 Video Games

Phillips halts Odyssey2/3 development

Odyssey3North American Phillips (formerly Magnavox) announces at the summer Consumer Electronics Show that it has put the Odyssey2 video game console’s slightly more advanced successor, the Odyssey3 Command Center, on hold indefinitely – just six months after unveiling it – rather than meeting its July release date. What Phillips doesn’t announce is that active game development on the Odyssey2 has also been halted; the company’s game designers are now focused on a new effort to publish games for non-Odyssey consoles under the Probe 2000 name.

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Crewed Spaceflight New Shepard

Blue Origin NS-21

Blue Origin NS-21Blue Origin launches the New Shepard suborbital flight NS-21, the vehicle’s fifth crewed flight. Passengers on this flight are Evan Dick (who also flew aboard NS-19), Katya Echazarreta, Hamish Harding, Victor Correa Hespanha, Jaison Robinson, and Victor Vescovo.