Year: 1977

Categories
Crewed Spaceflight Enterprise Space Shuttle

Enterprise Approach & Landing Test 5

  • October 26, 1977

EnterpriseAstronauts Fred Haise and Gordon Fullerton bring Space Shuttle Enterprise back to the ground safely for its fifth free-flight landing test, the second to land with the shuttle’s engines exposed and the first to land on an actual paved runway at Edwards Air Force Base. The crew successfully compensates for a “bouncing” problem experienced on previous shuttle test landings, proving that Enterprise’s sister ships should be able to land safely after returning from orbit. Following this test, Enterprise is slated to undergo a major refit to finish it out into a spaceworthy orbiter, but NASA ultimately decides the process is too expensive. This is the final free-flight of Space Shuttle Enterprise.

Categories
Television

Wonder Woman: The Queen And The Thief

  • October 28, 1977

Wonder WomanThe 20th episode of Wonder Woman airs on CBS, starring Lynda Carter and Lyle Waggoner. Juliet Mills (Nanny and the Professor), David Hedison (Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea), and John Colicos (Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica) guest star.

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Television

The Incredible Hulk

  • November 4, 1977

The Incredible HulkThe movie-length first episode of the live-action series based on Marvel’s comic The Incredible Hulk premieres on CBS, starring Bill Bixby, Jack Colvin, and Lou Ferrigno. Of the many Marvel Comics-derived TV projects on CBS’ late ’70s schedule, The Incredible Hulk is the only one that sticks around for a lengthy run extending into the 1980s.

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Television

Space: 1999 finale

  • November 12, 1977

Space: 1999Despite appearing to be the right show in the right place at the right time, Space: 1999 ends its two-season run with an episode called The Dorcons, guest starring ex-Doctor Who Patrick Troughton. Though it would seem to be the prime contender to satisfy Star Wars-generated sci-fi mania on the small screen, the show’s run has already ended thanks to a combination of cast members’ demands for raises and creative control, and the slowly unraveling marriage of producers Gerry and Sylvia Anderson.

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Categories
Movies

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind

  • November 15, 1977

Close Encounters Of The Third KindColumbia Pictures releases the Steven-Spielberg-written-and-directed science fiction film Close Encounters Of The Third Kind in American theaters, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, and François Truffaut. A movie about contact with alien life set in modern-day America, Close Encounters (often abbreviated to CE3K) it a genuine hit in its own right, cementing Spielberg’s future connection to the genre and proving that the sudden surge of interest in science fiction was not attributable only to Star Wars.

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Categories
Crewed Spaceflight Skylab Space Shuttle

Saving Skylab?

  • November 16, 1977

Skylab and ShuttleNASA and its contractors mull over a report outlining an ambitious (and, considering the continuous delays to the first launch of the Space Shuttle program, overly optimistic) plan to reactivate and occupy the Apollo-era space station Skylab for use by shuttle crews. The plan involves outfitting the ailing station with new solar power panels and equipment, and performing repairs to make it habitable for future astronauts. Despite the best-laid plans, however, the shuttle’s first launch comes after Skylab tumbles back through Earth’s atmosphere.