For the first time in over 30 years, a spacecraft from Earth flies past the innermost planet, Mercury. The Messenger space probe, launched in 2004, is due to take up an orbit around Mercury in 2011, but this first close pass – just over 120 miles above Mercury’s surface – is designed to alter its trajectory. Messenger carries little fuel, and has swooped past Earth three times and twice past Venus to use both planets’ gravity to change its heading. Two more close passes of Mercury will be needed before it finally becomes caught in the tiny planet’s orbit, where it will spend roughly a year mapping the planet’s surface and taking dozens of other measurements. The last space probe from Earth to visit Mercury was Mariner 10, which made three close passes in 1974/75. Despite the brief gravity-assist visit, Messenger captures its first 1,200 images of Mercury, including a side of the planet never before seen from Earth.
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Big Finish Productions releases the 
BBC2 airs the 
Big Finish Productions 
BBC2 airs the 
Best known to mainstream audiences as the Lt. Gerard, the relentless cop pursuing The Fugitive in the 1960s, actor Barry Morse dies at the age of 89. London-born, he relocated to Canada in the 1950s, but landed many a part in U.S.-based productions. In SF circles, he remains best remembered for his one-season stint as the unflappable Professor Bergman on Space: 1999, and as a member of the international all-star cast of the 1980 BBC/NBC miniseries rendition of Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles. He was instrumental in turning around the fortunes of Ontario’s Shaw Theatre Festival in the 1960s and ’70s, a task he took on out of his personal love of the works of playwright George Bernard Shaw.
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Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off on the 121st shuttle flight, a 13-day mission to deliver another laboratory module to the International Space Station. The European Space Agency’s Columbus lab module is ESA’s contribution to the station, and is attached to the recently-installed Harmony node over the course of three spacewalks. Aboard Atlantis for her 29th flight are Commander Steve Frick, Pilot Alan Poindexter, and mission specialists Stanley Love, Leland Melvin, Rex Walheim and Hans Schlegel. ISS Expedition 17 crewmember Leopold Eyharts travels to the station aboard Atlantis, while ISS Expedition 16 crewmember Daniel Tani returns to Earth on the shuttle in his place.
Actor Roy Scheider, best known for his portrayal of Chief Brody in the 1975 megahit Jaws and its 1978 sequel, dies at the age of 75. Well-known for his mainstream roles, he also starred in some fondly-remembered genre projects, including the movies Blue Thunder and 2010: The Year We Make Contact, and a two-year stint as Captain Nathan Bridger on seaQuest DSV. He was twice nominated for an Oscar, for The French Connection and All That Jazz. 
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BBC2 airs the 
Cable channel Syfy airs the 11th (It’s Magic), 12th (The Programmer), and 13th (Mob.com) episodes of the near-future sci-fi series Level 9, starring Fabrizio Filippo (Queer As Folk, Delilah & Julis), Kate Hodge (She-Wolf Of London), and Michael Kelly (House Of Cards). Originally produced in 2000 and aired by UPN in the 2000-2001 season, the series was cancelled in 2001 with its final three episodes left unaired until Syfy runs a marathon of Level 9 repeats.
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British toymaker Character Options releases 
British toymaker Character Options releases 
Oscar-winning Film and TV composer Leonard Rosenman dies at the age of 83. Known for such movie scores as East Of Eden and Rebel Without A Cause (both starring James Dean), he also created the music for pivotal SF movies such as Fantastic Voyage, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Ralph Bakshi’s animated rendition of Lord Of The Rings, Beneath The Planet Of The Apes and Battle For The Planet Of The Apes. He also scored episodes of TV’s original Twilight Zone, Amazing Stories and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, among a great many others, including National Geographic and Jacques Cousteau specials.
The co-creator of the seminal “paper-and-dice” role playing game Dungeons & Dragons dies at the age of 69. Gary Gygax helped to devise the D&D system with Dave Arneson in 1974, and the game instantly took off, with players adoring its simultaneous escapism and complexity, and parents – usually having heard horror stories of a few bad apples – protesting the game vigorously. D&D created its own little empire for publisher TSR Inc., and numerous add-ons and imitations followed (including virtually the entire metal miniature gaming industry), influenced video and computer games, and inspired an animated series (whose production he was involved in) and movies. He still received – and enjoyed – fan mail from avid D&D players past and present.
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Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off on the 122nd shuttle flight, a 16 day mission to deliver two new key components of the International Space Station. The unpressurized portion of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory is delivered and attached, while the two-armed Dextre robotic arm system built in Canada is also installed. Aboard Endeavour for her 21st flight are Commander Dominic Gorie, Pilot Greg Johnson, and mission specialists Garrett Reisman, Robert Behnken, Mike Foreman, Takao Doi and Rick Linnehan. Reisman remains on the ISS, while station astronaut Leopold Eyharts hitches a ride back to Earth aboard the shuttle.
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