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Crewed Spaceflight Vostok

Vostok 6: first woman in space

Valentina TereshkovaWhile cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky orbits overhead about Vostok 5, Vostok 6 is launched from the Soviet Union, carrying the first female space traveler, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova. Spending nearly three days in orbit, Tereshkova’s Vostok capsule serves as a rendezvous target for Vostok 5, though without precision piloting ability, the two vehicles’ closest approach is no closer than within three miles, and neither Vostok is actually equipped for any kind of docking. Tereshkova’s flight is a political point scored for the Soviet Union, but only a brief victory for womankind: it will be two more decades before another woman flies in space. The glass ceiling remains firmly in orbit.

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Science & Technology Uncrewed Spaceflight Weather & Climate

GOES-2 goes up

GOES-2 launchThe second in a new generation of geosynchronous weather satellites is launched for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, GOES-2. An acronym for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-2 is initially positioned at a point over 60 degrees west longitude on Earth, though it will be repositioned several times in its career as a weather satellite. In 1993, it will cease weather monitoring operations and will act chiefly as a communications satellite serving islands in the Pacific Ocean, as well as manned research facilities in Antarctica. GOES-2 will serve that function through 2001.

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Science & Technology Uncrewed Spaceflight Weather & Climate

GOES-3 goes up

GOES-3NOAA’s GOES-3 Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite is launched from Cape Canaveral into a geosynchronous orbit over the Indian Ocean, replacing the first operational GOES satellite, GOES-1. GOES-3 will serve as a working weather satellite for over a decade, ultimately decommissioned from that role in 1989 and then serving as a communications satellite for the Pacific Ocean region and Antarctica, a role it continues to fill over 35 years later.

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Television

Mann & Machine: Mann’s Fate

Mann & MachineThe sixth episode of the science fiction police series Mann & Machine, co-created by Dick Wolf and Robert de Laurentiis, is broadcast on NBC, starring David Andrews and Yancy Butler. (The series has already been cancelled at this point; NBC is burning off the remaining episodes in off-season time slots.)

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Television

The Outer Limits: Quality Of Life

The Outer LimitsPremium cable channel Showtime airs the 13th episode of The Outer Limits, a revival of Leslie Stevens’ 1960s science fiction anthology series. Robert Patrick (Terminator 2, The X-Files) and Nicole de Boer (Deepwater Black, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) guest star.

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Television

Young Indiana Jones: Travels With Father

Young Indiana Jones ChroniclesThe feature-length 32nd episode of George Lucas’ historical adventure series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles airs on cable channel The Family Channel, starring Corey Carrier and Sean Patrick Flanery. Michael Gough (Batman, Doctor Who) guest stars. This is the final episode/TV movie of the series.

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Television

The Outer Limits: Paradise

The Outer LimitsPremium cable channel Showtime airs the 38th episode of The Outer Limits, a revival of Leslie Stevens’ 1960s science fiction anthology series. Mel Harris (thirtysomething) and Geraint Wyn Davies (Forever Knight) guest star.

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Crewed Spaceflight Shenzhou Tiangong

Shenzhou 9

Shenzhou 9China launches its fourth manned space mission, Shenzhou 9, on the first manned flight to the small space station Tiangong-1. The crew consists of Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang, and the first female space traveler from China, Liu Yang. Automated docking at Tiangong-1 has been rehearsed by ground controllers during the unmanned Shenzhou 8 mission, but this mission requires both automatic and manual dockings to be carried out. The crew will spend a total of 13 days in space.

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Deaths Matters of Life & Death

Stephen Furst, actor & director, dies

Stephen Furst as Vir in Babylon 5Actor and director Stephen Furst, well-known to the American viewing public as hapless Flounder from the 1970s frat movie Animal House and as Dr. Axelrod from St. Elsewhere, dies at the age of 63 from complications from a long battle with diabetes. Furst co-starred as much-put-upon Centauri diplomatic aide Vir Cotto in all five seasons of the 1990s science fiction series Babylon 5; he also directed episodes of Babylon 5 and its follow-up, Crusade, as well as voicing Booster in the animated Toy Story TV spinoff, Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command. He also directed (sometimes under a pseudonym) such Syfy original movies as Path Of Destruction and Basilisk: The Serpent King.