It’s not easy to reach the moon. Just a month after the failed flight of Luna 5, the Soviet Union launches the near-identical unmanned spacecraft Luna 6 to the moon. A pre-programmed mid-course correction engine burn, meant to help Luna 6 coast toward a soft landing on the lunar surface, instead overcorrects. The engine fails to acknowledge a command to stop firing, pushing Luna 6 so far off course that it misses the moon by almost 100,000 miles, dumping the vehicle in an orbit around the sun.
The 
The unexpected runaway success of a dark horse in the summer movie race makes for a mad dash for the toy rights. The winner of that race is Kenner Products, the toy division of cereal maker General Mills, and the prize is the exclusive license to market toys and other products based on Star Wars. Prior to the movie’s release, however, George Lucas has convinced 20th Century Fox to allow him to keep all toy licensing rights, meaning that ongoing licensing payments are made directly to Lucas, providing him with the lion’s share of his future wealth. Kenner executive Bernard Loomis finds himself fighting to convince his own sales team that this movie will attract more than a momentary audience. With the late start and the long lead time on design, tooling and manufacture, Loomis concocts an audacious marketing scheme involving an “empty box” available by Christmas.
Electric Light Orchestra‘s eighth album, 
The 
Williams Electronics unleashes an arcade favorite in the making, 
The 13th episode of RoboCop: The Series airs in syndication, starring Richard Eden, Yvette Nipar, Blu Mankuma, and Andrea Roth. Roddy Piper (They Live) and Lisa Howard (Highlander, Earth: Final Conflict) guest star.
The first episode of Return To Jupiter premieres on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Co-produced by ABC and Japanese network NHK, this children’s sci-fi series stars Sonia Todd (Home And Away) and David Wenham (The Lord Of The Rings trilogy). This series follows up on the 1994 series Escape From Jupiter.
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 48th and 49th episodes of Tracy Torme’s alternate-universe science fiction series Sliders, starring Jerry O’Connell, Cleavant Derricks, and Kari Wuhrer. Genesis is the fourth season premiere, and the first episode produced for the Sci-Fi Channel; Prophets And Loss guest stars David Birney (St. Elsewhere) and Connor Trinneer (Star Trek: Enterprise). David Peckinpah has now assumed sole duties as showrunner, following Tracy Torme’s exit after criticism of Fox’s handling of the series during season three.
GNP Crescendo Records releases 
The week-long national syndication window opens for 
Warner Bros. Records releases the 
Canadian broadcaster CHCH-TV airs the 22nd and final 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 
Sci-Fi Channel airs 
Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off the 118th shuttle flight, on a two-week mission to resupply and continue assembly of the International Space Station. Two major structural trusses and two large solar power arrays are delivered and installed, and a damaged array is removed. Aboard Atlantis for her 28th flight are Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault, and mission specialists Patrick Forrester, Danny Olivas, Clayton Anderson, Jim Reilly and Steven Swanson. Anderson remains on the station, joining the crew of ISS Expedition 15.
Atlantic Records releases the 
Soundtrack specialty label Intrada releases Australian composer Brian May’s soundtrack from the 1984 movie 
The CW airs the 144th episode of The Flash, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ superhero starring Grant Gustin. This episode marks the exit of longtime series regular Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon.
The CW airs the ninth episode of Superman & Lois, starring Tyler Hoechlin, Elizabeth Tulloch, Jordan Elsass, and Alex Garfin.
Streaming service Disney+ releases the 
The 883rd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1 (the 184th episode since the series’ revival), starring Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson. Jonathan Groff (Hamilton) guest stars.