The fourth episode of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, based on Wells’ story, airs on ITV; the series will be shown later in the U.S. on CBS. Lisa Daniely and Deborah Watling (Doctor Who) star.
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The newly-formed NASA reveals a bold plan: Project Mercury will be an extensive program to create a vehicle capable of safely sending men into Earth orbit and returning them in one piece. The rigorous selection process to find the country’s first space pilots – astronauts – begins, focusing on combat pilots and especially test pilots with experience in flying unproven experimental aircraft (the Mercury spacecraft will definitely qualify for this description).
The 17th episode of the NBC western series Jefferson Drum is broadcast in the United States, starring Jeff Richards. Dan Blocker (Bonanza) guest stars. This episode is written by future Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. 
The newly-formed National Aeronautics and Space Administration launches its first space probe, Pioneer 1, atop a Thor-Able booster. Intended to image the moon at the infrared end of the spectrum from close range, Pioneer 1 is the victim of a technical error which instead sends it into an 80,000 mile arc which eventually brings it back into Earth’s atmosphere. Its flight lasts just 43 hours, but it does yield some information about the radiation belts surrounding Earth, as well as the first experiment to measure the density of micrometeor impacts registered by an onboard sensor.
The fifth episode of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, based on Wells’ story, airs on ITV; the series will be shown later in the U.S. on CBS. Lisa Daniely and Deborah Watling (Doctor Who) star.
This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could join theLogBook team and write this guide or support the webmaster’s efforts to expand the site.
The sixth episode of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, based on Wells’ story, airs on ITV; the series will be shown later in the U.S. on CBS.
This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could join theLogBook team and write this guide or support the webmaster’s efforts to expand the site.
The 47th episode of Sam Rolfe’s western series Have Gun – Will Travel is broadcast on CBS in the United States, starring Richard Boone. This episode is written by future Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, a frequent writer in the series’ early seasons. Future Star Trek guest star Michael Forrest appears in this episode.
The seventh episode of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, based on Wells’ story, airs on ITV; the series will be shown later in the U.S. on CBS.
This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could join theLogBook team and write this guide or support the webmaster’s efforts to expand the site.
The eighth episode of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, based on Wells’ story, airs on ITV; the series will be shown later in the U.S. on CBS.
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NASA launches Pioneer 2, a near-identical twin to the failed lunar probe Pioneer 1 it launched a month earlier. Again, technical errors prevent the probe from entering lunar orbit or, for that matter, even reaching the moon – Pioneer 2 limps into a looping arc, barely a thousand miles from Earth, and returns home to burn up in the atmosphere.
The ninth episode of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, based on Wells’ story, airs on ITV; the series will be shown later in the U.S. on CBS. Honor Blackman (The Avengers) guest stars.
This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could join theLogBook team and write this guide or support the webmaster’s efforts to expand the site.
The tenth episode of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, based on Wells’ story, airs on ITV; the series will be shown later in the U.S. on CBS. Lisa Daniely and Deborah Watling (Doctor Who) star.
This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could join theLogBook team and write this guide or support the webmaster’s efforts to expand the site.
The 11th episode of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, based on Wells’ story, airs on ITV; the series will be shown later in the U.S. on CBS. Lisa Daniely and Deborah Watling (Doctor Who) star.
This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could join theLogBook team and write this guide or support the webmaster’s efforts to expand the site.
The 12th episode of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, based on Wells’ story, airs on ITV; the series will be shown later in the U.S. on CBS. Lisa Daniely stars.
This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could join theLogBook team and write this guide or support the webmaster’s efforts to expand the site.
After months of lobbying the U.S. Air Force and the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) for help in funding a large-aperture radar/radio telescope dish for studies of Earth’s ionosphere and the space that lies beyond, Cornell University’s Bill Gordon publishes a report in the journal of the School of Electrical Engineering. Gordon’s report, setting out the basic parameters for the project, includes a reflector dish diameter of one thousand feet – a daunting prospect from a structural engineering perspective. Sites in Texas and upstate New York are considered before a natural limestone “bowl” south of the city of Arecibo, Puerto Rico emerges as a promising candidate site.
NASA launches the Pioneer 3 space probe, intended – like its predecessors – to visit the vicinity of the moon. Designed to activate a television camera to get the first look at the moon’s far side, Pioneer 3 never reaches its target, only covering a third of the distance between Earth and the moon before it loops back toward Earth and burns up in the atmosphere a day later. Its near-identical twin, Pioneer 4, will be launched in 1959.
The 13th episode of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, based on Wells’ story, airs on ITV; the series will be shown later in the U.S. on CBS. Lisa Daniely and Deborah Watling (Doctor Who) star; Patrick Troughton (Doctor Who) guest stars in the first season finale.
This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could join theLogBook team and write this guide or support the webmaster’s efforts to expand the site.
With engineers and ground controllers working under absolute secrecy, the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency launches the Atlas rocket-based SCORE satellite, an experimental communications satellite capable of recording four-minute audio messages from the ground for later playback to another part of the world. Though the first communication transmitted to Earth by SCORE is a message from President Eisenhower wishing listeners a peaceful Christmas, there’s little doubt that it’s a thinly-veiled military hardware demonstration. SCORE remains in orbit for only a few weeks before burning up in Earth’s atmosphere.
With the international race for space technology supremacy heats up, the Soviet Union scores a first: the unmanned Luna 1 is the first human-made object to completely escape Earth’s gravity. Luna 1 is meant to impact the mon, but the nearly-800-pound space probe barely comes within 4,000 miles of the lunar surface. Luna 1 later becomes the first artificial object to orbit the sun, after running out of power at a point in deep space between the orbits of Earth and Mars. The state-run Soviet press agency gives Luna 1 a new name, Mechta, and tries to declare the wayward moonship a “new planet.”
ABC premieres the first episode of the supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland. Virginia Leith, Skip Homeier, and Harry Townes guest star.
ABC airs the second episode of the supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland. Patrick Macnee (The Avengers) guest stars.
The 60th episode of Sam Rolfe’s western series Have Gun – Will Travel is broadcast on CBS in the United States, starring Richard Boone. This episode is written by future Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, a frequent writer in the series’ early seasons.
ABC airs the third episode of the supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland. Lin McCarthy guest stars.
ABC airs the fourth episode of the supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland. Chloris Leachman guest stars.
ABC airs the fifth episode of the supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland. Paul Richards and Jean Allison guest star.
ABC airs the sixth episode of the supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland. Charles Aidman and William Schallert guest star.
The 60th episode of Sam Rolfe’s western series Have Gun – Will Travel is broadcast on CBS in the United States, starring Richard Boone. This episode is written by future Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, a frequent writer in the series’ early seasons.
NASA’s Pioneer 4 space probe is launched toward the moon atop a Juno II booster. For the first time in the Pioneer program, the target is reached, with Pioneer 4 passing the moon at a distance of 37,000 miles. The television camera designed to activate just in time to catch the first glimpse of the lunar far side fails to deploy, thanks to a light sensor that isn’t tripped by the light reflected from the moon. Measurements of radiation near the moon are taken and transmitted back to Earth before Pioneer 4 slides into an orbit around the sun.
ABC airs the seventh episode of the supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland. Reginald Owen and Richard Lupino guest star.
ABC airs the eighth episode of the supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland.
ABC airs the ninth episode of the supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland. Joanne Linville guest stars.
ABC airs the tenth episode of the supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland. Pernell Roberts guest stars.
ABC airs the 11th episode of the supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland. Alfred Ryder guest stars.
The 68th episode of Sam Rolfe’s western series Have Gun – Will Travel is broadcast on CBS in the United States, starring Richard Boone. This episode is written by future Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, a frequent writer in the series’ early seasons.
ABC airs the 12th episode of the supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond, hosted and directed by John Newland. Patrick O’Neal guest stars.