Sci-Fi Channel airs the 60th episode of the science fiction series Sliders, starring Jerry O’Connell, Cleavant Derricks, Kari Wuhrer, and Charlie O’Connell. Charlie Brill and Tim Thomerson (Quark) guest star.
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The eighth episode of children’s science fiction series Aquila premieres on BBC1, starring Ben Brooks and Craig Vye. This episode opens the show’s second season.
UPN airs the
Showtime airs the 85th episode of The Outer Limits, a revival of the 1960s science fiction anthology series. Adam Baldwin (Firefly) guest stars.
Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off to begin the construction of the International Space Station. Endeavour conducts a rendezvous with the already-launched Zarya module and attached the Unity station module to it. The two modules’ external connections are completed during a spacewalk, and the station is powered up for the first time on December 7th. Endeavour’s 13th crew is Commander Robert Cabana, Pilot Frederick Sturckow, and mission specialists Nancy Currie, Jerry Ross, James Newman and Sergei Krikalev. Cabana and Krikalev are the first humans to enter the International Space Station, but since the fledgeling facility lacks long-term habitation facilities, it is left unmanned at the end of the 12 day mission.
The 122nd episode of Chris Carter’s modern-day science fiction series The X-Files airs on Fox, starring Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. Michael McKean guest stars.
Space Shuttle Endeavour joins the first two modules of the International Space Station together, having carried the Unity docking node into orbit in its cargo bay. With no living quarters or long-term life support facilities, the station is not yet ready for full-time occupancy; two further shuttle missions are required to prepare the station for its next major addition.
The 43rd episode of Joss Whedon’s trend-setting supernatural series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, airs on the WB network. Anthony Stewart Head, David Boreanaz, and Alyson Hannigan also star. Emma Caulfield Ford guest stars as Anya.
UPN airs the
Paramount debuts
Sci-Fi Channel premieres
UPN airs the
Sci-Fi Channel premieres
NASA’s unmanned NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) unmanned space probe fails to fire its thrusters for a critical engine burn to keep it aimed at asteroid 433 Eros. The vehicle instead goes into an automatic safe mode and enters a tumble that drains both its batteries and its fuel supply to dangerously low levels, and it is out of contact with Earth for over a day. As a result, NEAR merely flies past Eros at a distance of almost 2400 miles, leaving ground controllers to devise a strategy to re-aim NEAR so it can catch up to and try once again to orbit the asteroid (the primary objective of its mission). This maneuver will take a year to complete.
Sci-Fi Channel premieres
The 31st episode of Gene Roddenberry’s Earth: Final Conflict, airs in syndication, starring Robert Leeshock, Lisa Howard, Von Flores, and Richard Chevolleau.