Year: 1994

Categories
Television

M.A.N.T.I.S.: First Steps

  • August 26, 1994

M.A.N.T.I.S.Fox premieres the first weekly episode of M.A.N.T.I.S., an urban superhero series created by Sam Hamm (screenwriter of Tim Burton’s Batman) and future Hercules/Xena creators Robert Tapert and Sam Raimi. Carl Lumbly, Roger Rees (Cheers), Galyn Gorg, and Christopher Gartin star in a series vastly changed from the premise and tone of the January pilot movie.

More about M.A.N.T.I.S. in theLogBook
Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast

Categories
Magellan Uncrewed Spaceflight

Magellan tilts at Venusian windmills

  • September 6, 1994

MagellanNASA’s Magellan space probe, still orbiting Venus since 1990, enters a phase of slightly riskier experiments, dipping its solar panels into the upper reaches of the Venusian atmosphere and firing its reaction control engines to keep from spinning out of control. This allows for studies of the composition of Venus’ atmosphere, as well as studies of the vehicle’s behavior as it resists atmospheric friction. The results of the “windmill” experiment inform the design of future Mars probes which will need to aerobrake to slow down and enter the Martian atmosphere.

Categories
Star Trek Television

Voyager begins filming: captain overboard!

  • September 7, 1994

Genevieve BujoldFilming for the two-hour pilot of the new Star Trek series, Star Trek: Voyager, begins on the Paramount Studios lot. On the second day of filming, actress Genevieve Bujold plays her first scenes as Captain Nicole Janeway, but filming does not go well. Bujold abruptly quits the series, sending the producers scrambling to cast a new Captain Janeway. Shooting is rescheduled so scenes without the captain can be filmed in her absence, but days later, production shuts down until one of the runners-up for the role, Kate Mulgrew, is cast in the role of Janeway. The delays put Voyager weeks behind schedule and badly over-budget, with a premiere date – also the first night of Paramount’s network – that can’t be moved.

More about Star Trek: Voyager in the LogBook

Categories
Crewed Spaceflight Discovery Space Shuttle

STS-64

  • September 9, 1994

Space ShuttleNASA launches Space Shuttle Discovery on the 64th flight of the shuttle program. The cargo bay carries an experiment to test LIDAR applications from orbit, and is the site of a six-hour spacewalk to test an alternative to the retired MMU “jet pack” for EVA rescue purposes. Aboard Discovery for her 19th mission are Commander Richard Richards, Pilot Blaine Hammond, and mission specialists Jerry Linenger, Susan Helms, Carl Meade and Mark Lee.

Categories
Franchises Television X-Files

The X-Files: Little Green Men

  • September 16, 1994

The X-FilesThe 25th episode of Chris Carter’s modern-day science fiction series The X-Files airs on Fox, starring Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. William B. Davis guest stars in the second season premiere, which also promotes Mitch Pileggi to a series regular as Skinner.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could help change that.

Categories
Star Trek Television

Star Trek: DS9: The Search, Part I

  • September 26, 1994

Star Trek: Deep Space NineThe week-long national syndication window opens for the 46th episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This episode marks the beginning of Deep Space Nine’s third season and introduces the U.S.S. Defiant, a small starship designed to give the show’s characters the ability to leave the station. Salome Jens makes her first appearance as the female shapeshifter who leads the Dominion.

More about Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the LogBook and theLogBook.com Store
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine now streaming on Paramount Plus

Categories
Crewed Spaceflight Endeavour Space Shuttle

STS-68

  • September 30, 1994

Space ShuttleSpace Shuttle Endeavour lifts off on the shuttle program’s 65th mission. The eleven-day flight is a second round of space radar experiments, using a cargo-bay-mounted radar system that flew earlier in 1994 aboard Endeavour. The crew for this flight consists of Commander Michael Baker, Pilot Terrence Wilcutt, Payload Commander Thomas Jones, and mission specialists Steven Smith, Daniel Bursch and Peter Wisoff.

Categories
Franchises Television X-Files

The X-Files: Blood

  • September 30, 1994

The X-FilesThe 27th episode of Chris Carter’s modern-day science fiction series The X-Files airs on Fox, starring Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny, and Mitch Pileggi. William Sanderson (Blade Runner) guest stars.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could help change that.

Categories
Crewed Spaceflight Mir Soyuz

Soyuz TM-20

  • October 3, 1994

Soyuz TM-20Russia launches the Soyuz TM-20 mission to space station Mir, carrying cosmonauts Alexander Viktorenko and Yelena Kondakova, and German astronaut Ulf Merbold, who will remain for only a month to conduct experiments in orbit. A glitch in the automated docking system forces Viktorenko to assume manual control for the docking with Mir, a problem which will plague future Mir crews. Viktorenko and Kondakova remain aboard Mir for 169 days, returning to Earth in March 1995 with the new space endurance world record holder, Dr. Valery Polyakov, who has spent 437 days in orbit.

Categories
Franchises Television X-Files

The X-Files: Sleepless

  • October 7, 1994

The X-FilesThe 28th episode of Chris Carter’s modern-day science fiction series The X-Files airs on Fox, starring Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny, and Mitch Pileggi. Tony Todd (Candyman, Star Trek: The Next Generation) guest stars.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could help change that.

Categories
Magellan Uncrewed Spaceflight

Farewell, Magellan!

  • October 13, 1994

Carpe AtmospherumNASA’s Magellan space probe, orbiting Venus since 1990, is retired by entering the atmosphere of the planet whose surface it has mapped. With its power systems exhibiting signs of age and wear, Magellan has been intentionally dropped into an orbit low enough to allow its destruction in Venus’ dense atmosphere. Launched in 1989 via space shuttle, Magellan mapped the planet’s surface with cloud-penetrating radar, covering 98% of the Venusian surface, at least 1/5 of it with stereoscopic imaging allowing for accurate 3-D reconstruction of Venus’ surface features.