Categories
Computers

Hard drives at home

Corvus OmniNetCorvus Systems introduces its Winchester hard disk drive for the Apple II computer, available with five or ten megabytes of storage. A bulky device requiring its own power supply independent of the computer to which it’s connected, the Winchester drive carries a $5,000 price tag and an unconventional data backup system, Corvus Mirror, which uses videocassettes (also a fairly new technology). As the investment in this new mass storage technology is fairly daunting, Corvus will introduce a networking system the following year to allow multiple computers access to a single hard drive.

More about Apple II in Phosphor Dot Fossils

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Video Games

Mystery House

Mystery HouseSierra On-Line releases its first computer game, Hi-Res Adventure #1: Mystery House, for the Apple II computer. Pairing simple text descriptions with even simpler line art, the game marks a turning point in computer adventure games, and sets Sierra on a course to become one of the best-selling game software houses of the ’80s.

More about Sierra On-Line in Phosphor Dot Fossils

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Atari VCS Video Games

Space Invaders invade homes

Space InvadersAtari releases the home version of Space Invaders as a cartridge for the Atari 2600, the first time that a video game company has licensed another company’s game for home play. (All of Atari’s arcade ports up to this point have been home versions of Atari arcade games.) It turns out to be an astute move: Space Invaders is the “killer app” of the VCS, becoming so popular that the cartridge boosts sales of the system needed to run it.

More about Atari 2600 in Phosphor Dot Fossils
Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast

Categories
Television

Beyond Westworld: Sound Of Terror

Beyond WestworldThe third episode of Beyond Westworld airs on CBS, starring Jim McMullan, Connie Sellecca, and James Wainwright. Rene Auberjonois (Benson, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and Ronnie Sue Blakley (A Nightmare On Elm Street) guest star. Due to low ratings, CBS cancels Beyond Westworld after this episode airs, leaving two completed shows unaired.

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Beyond Westworld now streaming on Amazon Prime

Categories
Geosciences Science & Technology

Mt. St. Helens awakens

Mt. St. HelensFollowing eleven days of precursory earthquake activity, Mt. St. Helens, a volcano in Washington which has been dormant for over a century, emits a small eruption of ash and steam. Similar eruptions continue on an hourly basis, though the frequency will gradually diminsh through April. This activity lasts barely a month before ending, at least for a week or two. The north face of Mt. St. Helens begins bulging noticeably, and emergency planners fight to keep sightseers away from the mountain while drawing up evacuation plans for nearby populated areas. Some locals vow to remain despite possible evacuation orders.

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Atlantis Crewed Spaceflight Space Shuttle

Atlantis under construction

AtlantisConstruction begins on what is intended to be the fourth and final member of the current Space Shuttle fleet, Atlantis. With four orbiters in service, NASA will be one step closer to the routine, almost-weekly schedule of orbital flights envisioned in the Nixon-era mandate for the shuttle. Refinements and improvements in the process of constructing the shuttle fleet make Atlantis the lightest shuttle to date, over three tons lighter than Columbia.

Categories
Television

Blake’s 7: Terminal

Blake's 7BBC1 premieres the 39th episode of Terry Nation’s science fiction series Blake’s 7, ending the third season and seeing out series regular Jan Chappell (Cally) and the Liberator. This is the last script written for the series by Terry Nation, as he has decided to try his fortunes as a writer and producer in Hollywood, and is intended to be the series finale. When broadcast on the BBC, a voice-over on the end credits informs viewers that Blake’s 7 will return in 1981 – something that even the cast and crew aren’t aware of until then. Gareth Thomas guest stars as Blake.

More about Blake’s 7 in the LogBook and theLogBook.com Store
Blake’s 7 now streaming on Britbox

Categories
Computers

Microsoft Z80 Softcard

Microsoft Z80 SoftcardMicrosoft enters the computer hardware business with a Z80 processor card for the Apple II computer. This peripheral allows the Apple II to run the CP/M operating system and Microsoft BASIC (the Apple II is well on its way to dominating the home computer market at this point). Selling it for nearly $350 is responsible for bringing in the bulk of Microsoft’s revenue between now and the introduction of Microsoft DOS for the IBM PC.

Categories
Crewed Spaceflight Salyut Soyuz

Soyuz 35

Soyuz 35The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 35 en route to space station Salyut 6 for a long-duration stay. Cosmonauts Leonid Popov and Valery Ryumin set a new space endurance record with their 185-day stay, lasting until October 1980. Ryumin had been a member of the last Salyut 6 crew as well, having stayed on the station for six months in 1979, and was not originally scheduled for this mission, rotated into the prime crew due to the illness of the originally assigned crew member. Four other crews visit Salyut 6 during the Soyuz 35 crew’s stay. By the end of this mission, Ryumin holds a personal record for the most time accrued in space by a human being – 352 days, barely two weeks short of a full year of spaceflight experience.

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Uncrewed Spaceflight Viking

Viking 2 signing off

VikingTwo years after the shutdown of its orbiter leaves it sending observations of the Martian environment back to Earth at a low bit rate, the Viking 2 lander’s batteries are depleted and the second spacecraft to land on Mars shuts down permanently. Its three-and-a-half-year operational lifespan has been a bonus round for a robotic vehicle expected to function for a few months in Mars’ harsh weather.