Welcome To Paradox: The Extra

Welcome To ParadoxThe sixth episode of the Sci-Fi Channel original series Welcome To Paradox airs, a loosely-connected anthology of science fiction stories set in Betaville, a utopian future city whose incredible technology has frequently unintended side-effects. Rodney Rowland (Space: Above & Beyond) and Peter Williams (Stargate SG-1) star in a story co-written by SF author Greg Egan.

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Supercade

MIT Press publishes Van Burnham’s non-fictional history of the video game industry and its products, “Supercade“. Covering developments from Spacewar! and the Magnavox Odyssey through the Playstation era, “Supercade” is a coffee table book lavishly illustrated with emulator screen shots (and some surprisingly low-resolution digital photos and scans) and numerous essays by various authors on arcade and console games of note. Read more

Galileo’s mission ends

GalileoThe mission of the unmanned space probe Galileo ends in the clouds of the giant planet Jupiter, which it has orbited for eight years. Even as Galileo plunges toward Jupiter, it detects and reports evidence of a thin ring sharing the orbit of the small moon Amalthea, and then disintegrates as it falls into Jupiter. NASA has opted to send Galileo to its destruction, rather than risking a collision with Europa, which may harbor some of the ingredients necessary for life and might be contaminated if Galileo impacted it; Galileo’s mission was extended three times, with the vehicle lasting six years longer than anticipated in the original mission plan’s estimates, which included for the harsh radiation environment of Jupiter as a factor in expecting only a two-year mission.

Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy: Episode 13

Hitchhiker's Guide To The GalaxyThe 13th episode of the radio science fiction comedy series The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy is first broadcast on BBC Radio, beginning a radio adaptation of Douglas Adams’ novel Life, The Universe, And Everything and reuniting most of the original radio cast (though even the late Peter Jones is represented via brief clips from the 1970s radio series before being “rebooted” to the voice of actor William Franklyn). Adapted by Dirk Maggs, this is the first Hitchhiker’s Guide radio project undertaken after Adams’ death in 2001. Toby Longworth guest stars. Read more

Invasion

InvasionABC premieres the first episode of Shaun Cassidy’s sci-fi/horror series Invasion, starring William Fichtner (Contact), Eddie Cibrian, and Lisa Sheridan. The series premiere has been delayed by several weeks due to sensitivity concerns; the show, which revolves around a hurricane hitting a Florida town, is debuting mere weeks after the disastrous landfall of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Read more

Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance – Webisode 6

Battlestar Galactica: The ResistanceThe sixth webisode of Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance, a serialized story set immediately prior to the third season of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica, premieres on the Sci-Fi Channel’s website. Read more

Endeavour retired

Space ShuttleNASA donates the retired Space Shuttle Endeavour, stripped of working engines and other vital equipment, to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. The last shuttle to be built, construction on Endeavour began in 1988 from spare parts to replace the destroyed Challenger; Endeavour lifted off for the first time in 1992, ultimately flying 25 missions, including many of the International Space Station construction missions. This also marks the final flight of the modified Boeing 747 shuttle carrier aircraft, which flew for the first time in 1977.