Doctor Who: Terror Of The Zygons, Part 1

Doctor WhoThe 402nd episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This opens the show’s 13th season and shifts Doctor Who into the autumn months, where it remains for the rest of the 1970s. This is also the last UNIT story until the late 1980s. Read more

Tales Of The Unexpected: Vengeance Is Mine Inc.

Tales Of The UnexpectedITV airs the 29th episode of Roald Dahl’s anthology series Tales Of The Unexpected, hosted by the author himself and adapted from his short stories. Julian Fellowes (Knights Of God, and future creator of Downton Abbey) guest stars.

More about Tales Of The Unexpected in theLogBook.com Store
Tales Of The Unexpected now streaming on Amazon Prime

Doctor Who: The Leisure Hive, Part 1

Doctor WhoThe 526th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. This is the first story produced by John Nathan-Turner, who remains as showrunner through the series’ cancellation in 1989, and features a redesigned title sequence and – for the first time in the series’ history – a major revision to the theme tune. Adrienne Corri and Nigel Lambert guest star. Season 18 begins with this episode. Read more

STS-8: first African-American in space

ChallengerTaking off on a six-day satellite deployment mission, Space Shuttle Challenger also lifts the first African-American astronaut into orbit. A satellite deployment is carried out for India, along with continuing experiments to observe the performance of the shuttle in conditions of extreme cold with limited exposure to the sun. Aboard Challenger for this flight are Commander Richard Truly, Pilot Daniel Brandenstein, and mission specialists Dale Gardner, Guion Bluford, and William Thornton.

Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast

STS-41D: Discovery’s debut

DiscoverySpace Shuttle Discovery makes its first flight into space on a mission to deploy three commercial communications satellites. Tested on this flight is a huge solar power panel which unfolds vertically from Discovery’s cargo bay, testing technology for space station designs still on the drawing board. Discovery’s crew for this flight consists of Commander Henry Hartsfield, Pilot Michael Coats, mission specialists Judy Resnick, Steven Hawley, Mike Mullane, and payload specialist Charles Walker.

Sarah Jane Smith: The Tao Connection

Sarah Jane SmithBig Finish Productions releases the second Sarah Jane Smith audio drama, a Doctor Who audio spinoff starring Elisabeth Sladen, reprising her TV role in a story written by classic Doctor Who writer and producer Barry Letts. Read more

Doctor Who: The Vengeance Of Morbius

Doctor WhoBig Finish Productions releases the 16th episode of the new Eighth Doctor Who audio dramas, starring Paul McGann and Sheridan Smith. Alexander Siddig (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) guest stars in the second “season finale” of the Eighth Doctor and Lucie adventures. Read more

Don Lind, astronaut, dies

Don LindDon Lind, a veteran of the Apollo, Skylab and space shuttle eras at NASA, dies at the age of 92. Born in Midvale, Utah, his service as a U.S. Navy pilot and a degree in nuclear physics brought him to the attention of NASA, and he was a member of the agency’s fifth astronaut class, many of whom went to the moon. Lind was considered for the crew of Apollo 20 until that mission’s cancellation. During the Skylab space station’s tenure, he was assigned to the crew of the Skylab Rescue contingency mission (which ultimately was deemed unnecessary) and then as a potential member of a fourth Skylab crew, whose mission was also cancelled. By the time Lind made his only spaceflight, aboard the shuttle Challenger in 1985, he had been waiting nearly two decades for a flight. He retired from NASA following his flight, and went on to teach at Utah State University.