The Soyuz T-4 mission lifts off from the Soviet Union, carrying a two-man crew to space station Salyut 6. Cosmonauts Vladimir Kovalyonok and Viktor Savinykh remain about the station for 75 days, and are the last long-duration crew to occupy Salyut 6. Since they are still in orbit in April, they become the first Soviet crew to orbit the Earth at the same time as an American manned space vehicle since 1975, though the two never interact with each other at any point. The Soyuz T-4 capsule remains at the station as the escape vehicle until this crew departs in May.
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American pinball manufacturer Stern Electronics releases a video game licensed from Japanese game maker Konami Industries, 
ABC premieres the movie-length first episode of Stephen J. Cannell’s superhero comedy series The Greatest American Hero, starring William Katt, Connie Sellecca, and Robert Culp. Michael Paré and Faye Grant (V) guest star.
NASA’s unmanned Pioneer Venus Orbiter completes its radar mapping survey of the planet Venus, having used radar to create the first-ever topographical map of that world, which is usually hidden behind a thick, toxic cloud deck. Launched in 1978, Pioneer Venus Orbiter is the only surviving component of the two-vehicle Pioneer Venus mission, but with its solar arrays still gathering adequate power and all of its instruments still functioning well, the orbiter is not deactivated or deorbited at this time; future tasks will be found for it in the years ahead.
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Soyuz 39 lifts off from the Soviet Union, carrying its two-man crew on a week-long spaceflight including a visit to space station Salyut 6. The crew consists of cosmonauts Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Jugderdemidiin Gurragchaa, the first Mongolian in space. In conjunction with the resident Salyut 6/Soyuz T-4 crew, they conduct scientific and engineering experiments, some of them studying the state of Salyut 6 after several years in orbit. The Soyuz 39 crew returns to Earth on March 30th.
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Atari releases 
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Sega releases the arcade game 
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The Odyssey² video game console’s answer to Asteroids, 
A Split Enz album with identity issues, the group’s sixth studio album is released as 
Data East releases the arcade video game 
The Osborne One portable computer is given its public debut at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco. Despite being billed as “portable”, the computer is huge – packing 5¼” floppy disk drives and a tiny CRT monitor and a full-sized keyboard into a suitcase-sized enclosure, it weighs at least 30 pounds. The Osborne I’s native operating system is CP/M.
ITV airs the 35th episode of the anthology series Tales Of The Unexpected. Nigel Havers guest stars in the fourth season premiere.
Atari releases 
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The first attempt to launch Space Shuttle Columbia on her maiden voyage is called off due to problems with the shuttle’s sophisticated system of redundant flight computers, some of which fail to synchronize with each other during the countdown. Over 24 hours are required to fix the bug, and the launch is delayed by two days.
