NASA launches the third and final High Energy Astronomy Observatory satellite into Earth orbit, where it begins studying gamma ray sources and the nature of cosmic rays. There is also an experiment package designed to detect heavy atomic nuclei. HEAO-3 will remain in service through May 1981, and it will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere in December of that year.
The 14th episode of Star Blazers, an English rewrite and dub of the 1974 anime series Space Battleship Yamato, premieres in syndication across the U.S.
NBC airs the two-hour pilot movie of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century, a ’70s update of the classic sci-fi pulp hero by Glen A. Larson of Battlestar Galactica fame. Gil Gerard, Erin Gray and Tim O’Connor star in the heavily promoted new series, whose pilot is also shown as a theatrical movie both in America and abroad.
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Atari introduces the Atari 400 and Atari 800 home computers, one of the company’s first major product lines to show the imprint of Warner Communications. With only 8K of RAM (expandable to 16K), the Atari 400 (shown here) is intended to be more of a game machine, while the 48K Atari 800, with an actual keyboard, is intended to make inroads into the increasingly crowded home computer market. The same basic architecture, with significant modifications, will form the core of Atari’s next-generation video game console, the Atari 5200, which will be released in 1982.
The 15th episode of Star Blazers, an English rewrite and dub of the 1974 anime series Space Battleship Yamato, premieres in syndication across the U.S.
The 509th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. The Daleks return for the first time in four years, along with Davros; Lalla Ward takes over the role of Romana, while David Brierly takes over as the voice of K-9.
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CBS airs the 18th episode of the Space Academy spinoff series Jason Of Star Command, starring Craig Littler, Sid Haig, and Tamara Dobson (Cleopatra Jones).
The 16th episode of Star Blazers, an English rewrite and dub of the 1974 anime series Space Battleship Yamato, premieres in syndication across the U.S.
The 17th episode of Star Blazers, an English rewrite and dub of the 1974 anime series Space Battleship Yamato, premieres in syndication across the U.S.
The 18th episode of Star Blazers, an English rewrite and dub of the 1974 anime series Space Battleship Yamato, premieres in syndication across the U.S.
The 19th episode of Star Blazers, an English rewrite and dub of the 1974 anime series Space Battleship Yamato, premieres in syndication across the U.S.
NBC airs the second episode of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century. Buster Crabbe, Jack Palance and Roddy McDowall guest star.
The 20th episode of Star Blazers, an English rewrite and dub of the 1974 anime series Space Battleship Yamato, premieres in syndication across the U.S.
The 510th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Co-written by Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy) and producer Graham Williams under a pseudonym, this time-twisting story guest stars Julian Glover, Catherine Schell (Space: 1999) and Tom Chadbon, and features extensive location filming in Paris, a first for the series.
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Magnavox releases the video game cartridge War Of Nerves for the Odyssey2 video game system, designed and programmed by Ed and Linda Averett. With an emphasis on giving orders to a robot army not directly under the player’s micro-managed control, this may be the earliest example of a real-time strategy video game.
Fed up with Atari’s refusal to grant them bylines on the best-selling games they’ve been designing and programming for the Atari VCS, Atari employees Alan Miller, David Crane, Larry Kaplan and Bob Whitehead quit their jobs and form the first third-party video game software house, Activision, with former music executive Jim Levy aboard as the new company’s CEO. Infuriated, Atari files a raft of lawsuits alleging theft of trade secrets, but is ultimately unable to get an injunction preventing Activision from releasing games for the VCS.
The 21st episode of Star Blazers, an English rewrite and dub of the 1974 anime series Space Battleship Yamato, premieres in syndication across the U.S.
The 22nd episode of Star Blazers, an English rewrite and dub of the 1974 anime series Space Battleship Yamato, premieres in syndication across the U.S.
The 23rd episode of Star Blazers, an English rewrite and dub of the 1974 anime series Space Battleship Yamato, premieres in syndication across the U.S.
The 24th episode of Star Blazers, an English rewrite and dub of the 1974 anime series Space Battleship Yamato, premieres in syndication across the U.S.
NBC airs the third episode of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century. Cesar Romero (Batman) guest stars.
The 25th episode of Star Blazers, an English rewrite and dub of the 1974 anime series Space Battleship Yamato, premieres in syndication across the U.S.
The 511th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Co-written by Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy) and producer Graham Williams under a pseudonym, this time-twisting story guest stars Julian Glover, Catherine Schell (Space: 1999) and Tom Chadbon, and features extensive location filming in Paris, a first for the series.
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The 26th episode of Star Blazers, an English rewrite and dub of the 1974 anime series Space Battleship Yamato, premieres in syndication across the U.S. This is the final episode of the first season, which fans collectively refer to as the Quest for Iscandar; on most stations, the show loops back to its first episode the following day and continues to air in sequence.
Under the watchful eye of Marvel UK editor Dez Skinn, Doctor Who Magazine‘s first issue hits British newsstands under the title Doctor Who Weekly (it goes monthly after 61 weekly issues, coinciding with the beginning of Peter Davison’s tenure). Included are pictorial retrospectives of past Doctors and Dalek stories, a fourth Doctor comic titled “The Iron Legion”, a Doctor-less Dalek comic, and – oddly and yet appropriately – the first part of a comic adaptation of H.G. Wells’ “The Time Machine” scripted by Chris Claremont, all in 28 pages. Rub-off transfer artwork of the fourth Doctor, various explosions and dinosaurs (unrelated to the current TV episodes) are also included on the front cover.
NBC airs the fourth episode of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century. Frank Gorshin (Batman) and Markie Post (Night Court) guest star.
The 512th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Co-written by Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy) and producer Graham Williams under a pseudonym, this time-twisting story guest stars Julian Glover, Catherine Schell (Space: 1999) and Tom Chadbon, and features extensive location filming in Paris, a first for the series.
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NASA temporarily loses contact with unmanned space probe Voyager 1 as it cruises toward Saturn. A science experiment is conducted which requires Voyager to point its antenna away from Earth and enter a rolling maneuver, but ground controllers do not hear back from Voyager 1 when they expect to receive the signal that the experiment has ended. A tracking station in Australia sends a wide-beam command to Voyager 1 to reorient itself; it is later discovered that, attempting to regain its orientation with respect to Earth, Voyager 1’s star tracker locked on to Alpha Centauri instead of Canopus, pointing its antenna dish five degrees away from Earth. Normal operations resume once Voyager is pointed correctly. A similar problem will again cause Voyager 1 to break contact after a course correction burn in December.
NBC airs the fifth episode of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century. Frank Gorshin (Batman) and Markie Post (Night Court) guest star.
The 513th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. Co-written by Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy) and producer Graham Williams under a pseudonym, this time-twisting story guest stars Julian Glover, Catherine Schell (Space: 1999) and Tom Chadbon, and features extensive location filming in Paris, a first for the series.
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