The Soviet Union launches cosmonauts Boris Volynov and Vitaly Zholobov aboard Soyuz 21, the first mission to the newly-orbited Salyut 5 military space station. Though a few scientific experiments are conducted, most of the crew’s activities involve military surveillance of Earth. The crew’s stay is intended to last as long as two months, though an emergency aboard the station will cut that stay short.
The fourth episode of The Black Adder airs on the BBC, starring Rowan Atkinson.
The American wing of Japanese arcade game manufacturer Taito introduces the coin-op racing game Buggy Challenge on the American arcade market.
The first episode of Chris Boucher’s futuristic police drama Star Cops premieres on the BBC, complete with a theme song by Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues (more of which is heard in this episode’s extended intro than any other episode of the series). Andrew Secombe (Star Wars prequels) guest stars.
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Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast
Encouraged by the public interest in Voyager 2’s recent visit to Neptune, scientist Robert Farquhar and graduate student Alan Stern pitch a concept for a compact mission, using hardware derived from the Voyager program, to the planet Pluto. Named Pluto 350, for the 350-kilogram upper weight limit decided on as a feasible and affordable launch weight, their proposed mission would launch in November 2001, have a close encounter with asteroid 1442 Corvina in 2002, then a return to Earth to catch a gravity assist in 2005, with a further gravity assist at Jupiter boosting Pluto 350 to its final target in 2015. In addition to pitching this plan to NASA, Farquhar and Stern appeal to the public by publishing a detailed six-page mission plan in the pages of the Planetary Society’s newsletter. However, a tendency toward larger spacecraft – such as the Mariner Mark II architecture envisioned for the upcoming Cassini and CRAF missions – means that Pluto 350 is not given serious consideration by NASA.
The week-long national syndication window opens for the 15th episode of Babylon 5. David Warner (Tron, Time Bandits, Star Trek VI) and William Sanderson (Blade Runner, Newhart) guest star. Thanks in part to its mid-season debut, this is one of several episodes of Babylon 5 aired during the usually-ignored July ratings sweep, an unusual move for any series, syndicated or network.
More about Babylon 5 in the LogBook and theLogBook.com Store
Babylon 5 now streaming on Amazon Prime
The fifth episode of Return To Jupiter airs 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).
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Sci-Fi Channel airs the 53rd episode of the science fiction series Sliders, starring Jerry O’Connell, Cleavant Derricks, and Kari Wuhrer. Charlie O’Connell joins the cast as of this episode. Ben Jones (The Dukes Of Hazzard) and Adrienne Barbeau guest star.
More about Sliders in the LogBook
Sliders now streaming on Amazon Prime
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Pay cable channel Showtime airs the 89th episode of Stargate SG-1. Tony Amendola and Peter Williams guest star.
More about Stargate SG-1 in the LogBook and theLogBook.com Store
Stargate SG-1 now streaming on Amazon Prime
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 139th episode of The Outer Limits. Irene Bedard (Pocahontas) and Greg Evigan (TekWar, B.J. And The Bear) guest star.
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BBC1 premieres the 27th episode of Russell T. Davies’ science fiction series Torchwood. Unlike previous seasons, this season – subtitled Children Of Earth – is only five episodes long, broadcast at a rate of one installment per night, with the implication that the story is unfolding more or less in real time. Peter Capaldi and Paul Copley guest star.
More about Torchwood in the LogBook and theLogBook.com Store
Torchwood now streaming on HBO Max
Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast
One of the last remaining prototypes of the Soviet-era Buran space shuttle is transported over land (and in pieces) from Gorky Park to an exhibition center in the center of Moscow to become part of an exhibit of Russian technological accomplishments. The unfinished Buran spaceframe had served numerous uses during its 30+ stay in Gorky Park, ranging from an impressive display piece to a diner (!).
theLogBook.com releases the 18th episode of the Retrogram podcast, hosted by Earl Green, covering the following shows from the week of September 24th, 1990:
Legendary Italian film composer Ennio Morricone dies at the age of 91. With over 500 film and TV credits to his name, he was one of the most prolific composers by either Hollywood or European standards, and his early partnership with director and college classmate Sergio Leone led to his first international success, the score from the 1966 spaghetti western The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. That brought Morricone to Hollywood’s attention, and he went on to score such films as Once Upon A Time In The West, Two Mules For Sister Sara, Guns For San Sebastian, Duck You Sucker, Exorcist II, La Cage aux Folles, Orca, The Thing, Once Upon A Time In America, Red Sonja, The Untouchables, Bugsy, In The Line Of Fire, Mission To Mars, The Hateful Eight, and many others.
The CW airs the 148th episode of The Flash, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ superhero starring Grant Gustin.
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