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Ranger Uncrewed Spaceflight

Ranger 2

RangerNASA launches the Ranger 2 lunar probe, intended to travel the distance from Earth to the moon and collide with the lunar surface, taking pictures and transmitting them back to Earth up to the moment of impact. Much like its predecessor in the Ranger series earlier in the year, Ranger 2’s Agena second stage booster fails, leaving it stranded in a low Earth orbit. Ranger 2 disintegrates upon reentering Earth’s atmosphere two days later, another blow for a NASA program that can’t seem to score a success.

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Television

Thunderbirds: Desperate Intruder

ThunderbirdsUK broadcaster ATV Midlands airs the eighth episode of Gerry Anderson’s Supermarionation science fiction series Thunderbirds, featuring the voices of Shane Rimmer, David Graham, Sylvia Anderson, Ray Barrett, and Peter Dyneley.

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Television

The Evil Touch: Marcie

The Evil TouchThe tenth episode of the horror anthology series The Evil Touch airs on Australia’s Nine Network, hosted by Anthony Quayle (Strange Report). (The series will later appear in the U.S. and elsewhere in first-run syndication.) Susan Strasberg guest stars.

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Music

Electric Light Orchestra: Eldorado

ELOElectric Light Orchestra‘s fourth album, Eldorado, is released, featuring the single “Can’t Get It Out Of My Head”. This is the first ELO album with a full orchestra (as opposed to previous albums’ practice of overdubbing three string players endlessly), and the first to be released in the US before its UK release date.

More about ELO in Music Reviews

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Video Games

Pac-Man Plus

Pac-Man PlusStill trying to stem the tide of bootleg copies of Pac-Man in American arcades, Midway releases the coin-op conversion kit Pac-Man Plus, offering arcade operators an inexpensive (and legal) way to “freshen” old Pac-Man machines on-site rather than turning to bootleg enhancement kits, a problem that has been stealing Midway’s market share since Pac-Man became a hit.

More about Pac-Man Plus in Phosphor Dot Fossils

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Crewed Spaceflight Enterprise Space Shuttle

Enterprise retired

EnterpriseThe Space Shuttle Enterprise arrives to begin its new life as a star exhibit at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington D.C. Having used the Enterprise as a test shuttle for landings and engineering fit checks, and having dispatched it on a world tour of air shows and other public appearances, NASA donates Enterprise to the Smithsonian, as any plans to refit it into a spaceworthy orbiter have been nixed by this point.

Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast

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Television

The Tomorrow People: The Origin Story – Part 1

The Tomorrow PeopleThe first episode of Roger Price’s reboot of his 1970s science fiction series The Tomorrow People is broadcast on ITV in the U.K. (and will appear later on Nickelodeon in North America), starring Kristian Schmid and Christian Tessier. The new series has no continuity ties to the 1970s series of the same name. Hugh Quarshie (Highlander, Star Wars Episode I) guest stars.

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Franchises Television X-Files

The X-Files: Firewalker

The X-FilesThe 33rd episode of Chris Carter’s modern-day science fiction series The X-Files airs on Fox, starring Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny, and Mitch Pileggi. Bradley Whitford (The West Wing) and Leland Orser (ER) guest star.

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Television

The Cape: Burning Fuse

TimecopThe 11th episode of The Cape airs in syndication in North America, starring Corbin Bernsen and Adam Baldwin, presenting a fictionalized version of NASA’s shuttle program.

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