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Television

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Pangs

Buffy The Vampire SlayerThe 64th episode of Joss Whedon’s supernatural series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, airs on the WB network. Anthony Stewart Head and Alyson Hannigan also star. David Boreanaz (Angel) guest stars.

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Deaths Matters of Life & Death

Mary Whitehouse, media activist, dies

Mary WhitehouseMary Whitehouse, known for many years for her insistent outcries against sex and violence on British television – including a years-long war of words with various producers of BBC-TV’s Doctor Who – dies at the age of 91 (coincidentally, on the 38th anniversary of Doctor Who’s first broadcast). Many a Who producer has quietly echoed the thoughts of John Nathan-Turner, who has been known to say that he’d pray at night that Ms. Whitehouse would protest loudly about a recent episode of the show because it would draw public attention (and maybe ratings). Ms. Whitehouse is survived by three sons.

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Crewed Spaceflight Endeavour International Space Station Space Shuttle

STS-113 / ISS Expedition 6

Space ShuttleSpace Shuttle Endeavour lifts off on the 112th shuttle flight, a two-week mission to resupply and exchange crews at the International Space Station. Another structural tress to dissipate excess heat into space is assembled and attached. Aboard Endeavour for her 19th flight are Commander James Wetherbee, Pilot Paul Lockhart, mission specialists Michael Lopez-Alegria and John Herrington, and ISS Expedition 6 crewmembers Kenneth Bowersox, Nikolai Budarin and Don Pettit. Returning to Earth aboard the shuttle are Expedition 5 crewmembers Valeri Korzun, Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev.

This is the last successful shuttle mission for over two years.

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Doctor Who Television

Doctor Who: The Day Of The Doctor

Doctor WhoThe 801st episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1 (the 103rd episode since the series’ revival). This is the show’s 50th anniversary special, starring Matt Smith, David Tennant, and John Hurt, with past Doctors putting in appearances via archive footage; Tennant’s co-star Billie Piper also appears, though not as Rose Tyler. This is the first episode since 1976 to feature the shape-shifting Zygons, and it adds a major plot twist to the Time War.

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Crewed Spaceflight New Shepard

Blue Origin NS-2

Blue Origin NS-2Commercial spaceflight operator Blue Origin, owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, launches its second New Shepard flight. The uncrewed (but human-rated) capsule and its single-stage suborbital booster come in for soft landings near Blue Origin’s Texas launch facility, after refinements are made to the system of aerodynamic fins designed to keep the booster upright as it returns to the ground for a survivable landing. This is the first intact return of a space-flown booster to Earth. This is the first flight for the second New Shepard reusable capsule, as well as the first flight for the second New Shepard reusable booster; both will be reused again.