The Soviet Union launches the first Kvant module to join with the Mir core module. An expansion originally devised for the Salyut 7 space station, Kvant provides additional working space and life support systems aboard Mir as, well as a gyroscopic stablization system to keep the station properly oriented without the constant use of engines and fuel. Years later, the basic Kvant design will be developed further in Russia’s contributions to the International Space Station.
The first episode of the American-made Max Headroom series premieres on ABC, starring Matt Frewer and Amanda Pays. (This is the the American-made drama series, not the music video/talk show series featuring the same character.) Charles Rocket (Saturday Night Live) guest stars. 
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The 44th episode of Steven Spielberg’s anthology series Amazing Stories airs on NBC.
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President Reagan approves a $10,000,000,000 budget for a redesigned, pared-down Space Station Freedom, to be constructed over sixteen Space Shuttle launches beginning in 1994, with Freedom not being fully operational until 1996. To the stern disapproval of the scientific community, almost all laboratory space has been removed from Freedom’s design proposal, leaving only Japan and the European Space Agency to provide lab space. Without the space for American astronauts to conduct scientific experiments, Space Station Freedom’s new primary mission is quite clearly stated to be to catch the American space program up with, or surpass, the Soviet Union’s long-duration space missions aboard the Mir space station. While the Preisdent approves of the slimmed-down station design, NASA must now run the gauntlet to get Congressional approval to proceed.
The second episode of the American-made Max Headroom series premieres on ABC, starring Matt Frewer and Amanda Pays. (This is the the American-made drama series, not the music video/talk show series featuring the same character.) Howard Sherman and Wortham Krimmer guest star. (more…)
The 45th and final episode of Steven Spielberg’s anthology series Amazing Stories airs on NBC. Laraine Newman and Weird Al Yankovic guest star in an episode directed by Tobe Hooper. The series will be briefly revived by Spielberg in the 21st century.
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Warner Bros. Records releases the album Tango In The Night by Fleetwood Mac, featuring the singles “Big Love”, “Little Lies”, and “Seven Wonders”. This is the final studio album by the lineup that recorded Rumours and Tusk; Lindsey Buckingham goes his own way following this album. (more…)
The third episode of the American-made Max Headroom series premieres on ABC, starring Matt Frewer and Amanda Pays. (This is the the American-made drama series, not the music video/talk show series featuring the same character.) W. Morgan Sheppard and Concetta Tomei guest star. (more…)
The fourth episode of the American-made Max Headroom series premieres on ABC, starring Matt Frewer and Amanda Pays. (This is the the American-made drama series, not the music video/talk show series featuring the same character.) W. Morgan Sheppard and Concetta Tomei guest star. (more…)
The fifth episode of the American-made Max Headroom series premieres on ABC, starring Matt Frewer and Amanda Pays. (This is the the American-made drama series, not the music video/talk show series featuring the same character.) Robert O’Reilly guest stars. (more…)
NASA has to borrow some of its own spare parts back from the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum to begin engineering mock-up work on the unmanned Venus radar mapping probe Magellan. As JPL works on modifications to a backup central bus component left over from the Voyager program, a physical copy of that bus from an engineering backup of the Voyager spacecraft is loaned back to JPL, shipped to Pasadena from Washington, D.C. (This loan saves JPL the trouble of building another replica of the bus, the central hub of the spacecraft containing its computer and electrical systems, which could add significant cost to the preparations.) The real Magellan, due to be launched soon after the currently grounded space shuttle program resumes, will cut costs by incorporating unused backup equipment from its predecessors, including a Voyager central bus and high-gain antenna, a medium-gain antenna spare from the Mariner missions to Mars, and a Galileo data handling system.
Virgin Records releases the Roy Orbison album In Dreams: The Greatest Hits, which consists entirely of new recordings of Orbison’s most popular songs (since the original masters are in legal limbo due to the bankruptcy of Monument Records, Orbison’s former label); the compilation is timed to land near the release of the David Lynch film Blue Velvet, which used “In Dreams” in a pivotal scene. (more…)
The sixth episode of the American-made Max Headroom series premieres on ABC, starring Matt Frewer and Amanda Pays. (This is the the American-made drama series, not the music video/talk show series featuring the same character.) W. Morgan Sheppard and Concetta Tomei guest star. This is the last episode aired until fall 1987. (more…)
CBS airs the 33rd episode of a revival of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone. Rob Knepper and Heidi Kozak star in an episode comprised of three short stories, Joy Ride, Helter Skelter, and Private Channel.
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Pocket Books releases the in-universe reference book Star Trek: Mr. Scott’s Guide To The Enterprise, with text and illustrations by Lora Johnson. The book is a guide to the fictional lore and workings of the movie-era version of the starship Enterprise. (more…)
The first episode of Chris Boucher’s futuristic police drama Star Cops premieres on the BBC, complete with a theme song by Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues (more of which is heard in this episode’s extended intro than any other episode of the series). Andrew Secombe (Star Wars prequels) guest stars. 
CBS airs the 34th episode of a revival of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone. Gina Gershon (Showgirls, Tripping The Rift, Riverdale), Martin Balsam (The Six Million Dollar Man), Jenny Agutter (Logan’s Run), Tim Russ (Star Trek: Voyager), and Dennis Haskins (Saved By The Bell) star in two half-hour stories combined to fill an hour time slot, as CBS has already cancelled the series (but will revive it under a different production team to produce more episodes to make the Twilight Zone revival viable for syndication). (more…)
Fox airs the first episode of Werewolf, created by Frank Lupo (The A-Team) and featuring makeup effects by Rick Baker. John J. York and Lance LeGault star; Chuck Connors (The Rifleman) guest stars. (more…)
The second episode of Chris Boucher’s futuristic police drama Star Cops premieres on the BBC. Trevor Cooper makes his first appearance as regular Star Cop Colin Devis in this episode. (more…)
CBS airs the 35th episode of a revival of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone. Jennifer Rubin and James Whitmore Jr. (Baa Baa Black Sheep) star in an episode comprised of two short stories, Song Of The Younger World and The Girl I Married. Though the series ends its run on CBS’ prime time schedule at this point, CBS spends over a year retooling the series and moving its production base to Canada to produce a further 30 episodes to air in first-run syndication, bolstering the show’s episode count and its future prospects as a syndicated show.
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The 
The Soviet Union launches Soyuz TM-3 on an eight-day mission into space which includes a visit to space station Mir. Cosmonauts Aleksandr Aleksandrov and Muhammed Faris (the latter of whom is the first Syrian space traveler) return to Earth at the end of the mission, along with Mir crew member Yuri Romanenko, while Alexander Viktorenko takes Romanenko’s slot on Mir. In order to leave the newer vehicle docked to Mir as an escape craft, the Soyuz TM-3 crew returns aboard Soyuz TM-2.
The fourth episode of Chris Boucher’s futuristic police drama Star Cops, Trivial Games and Paranoid Pursuits, premieres on the BBC. Daniel Benzali and Robert Jezek guest star. (more…)
RCA Records releases The Best of A Flock Of Seagulls, a retrospective of the new wave group’s heyday. (more…)
The 
The 
Island Records issues Yoyo, the second album by rock group Bourgeois Tagg, fronted jointly by Brent Bourgeois and Larry Tagg. This album is produced by Todd Rundgren, who also recruits most of the band members to play on his next album. The biggest hit turns out to be the ballad “I Don’t Mind At All”, written by Bourgeois and guitarist Lyle Workman; the band breaks up at a later date. (more…)
The 
A&M Records releases 
Nintendo releases The Legend Of Zelda for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America, having already released a version early in 1986 in Japan. Rolled out with a major advertising campaign, Zelda revitalizes and redefines the video adventure game genre, as well as players’ expectation of electronically-moderated role-playing games, and spawns one of Nintendo’s most profitable major tentpole franchises. (more…)
The eighth episode of Chris Boucher’s futuristic police drama Star Cops premieres on BBC2. Geoffrey Bayldon guest stars. (more…)
The ninth and final episode of Chris Boucher’s futuristic police drama Star Cops, Little Green Men and Other Martians, premieres on BBC2. Originally intended to lead into a second season, this is the last episode of the series. (more…)
IRS Records releases R.E.M.‘s fifth album, Document, featuring the singles “The One That I Love” and “Its the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)”. This is the band’s last IRS release before signing with Warner Bros. (more…)
UK regional broadcaster TVS premieres the first episode of Richard Cooper’s alternate-history series Knights Of God, portraying a struggle between oppressive government and rugged resistance fighters in a post-civil-war UK. Gareth Thomas (Blake’s 7) and Patrick Troughton (Doctor Who) star; though filmed in 1985, it is Troughton’s final televised role (he died earlier in 1987). The series has never been repeated. (more…)
The 656th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1. The 24th season also opens the era of the seventh Doctor, played by Sylvester McCoy. Kate O’Mara guest stars as the Rani. For the first time, the series features CGI effects. (more…)