Travel back in time

2016
Legends Of Tomorrow: Marooned

ArrowThe CW airs the seventh episode of Legends Of Tomorrow, starring Arthur Darvill, Brandon Routh, Caity Lotz and Victor Garber. Callum Keith Rennie (Battlestar Galactica) guest stars.

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Tony Dyson, Star Wars droid builder, dies

Tony DysonThe designer and builder of the original R2-D2 props/costumes for Star Wars, roboticist and former toy designer Professor Tony Dyson, is found dead in Malta. Using Ralph McQuarrie’s artwork as his guide, Dyson built eight full-size R2 units for the 1977 film, some of them remote-controlled marvels of electronics, and others hollow shells to be operated by actor Kenny Baker. Dyson’s other film credits included Superman II and the James Bond film Moonraker. He provided other specialized droids for the original trilogy, and later formed a droid builders’ club in the UK, though he was legally forbidden by Lucasfilm to use his original 1976 design specifications. Some of his proteges went on to build R2 units for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Mr. Dyson was 68.

Legends Of Tomorrow: Night Of The Hawk

ArrowThe CW airs the eighth episode of Legends Of Tomorrow, starring Arthur Darvill, Brandon Routh, Caity Lotz and Victor Garber.

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ExoMars

ExoMarsThe European Space Agency’s unmanned Mars Trace Gas Orbiter, nicknamed ExoMars, lifts off via a Russian Proton rocket on a course for Mars. Carrying a small lander named Schiaparelli (named after the Italian astronomer who was instrumental in early mapping of Martian surface features via telescope), ExoMars is scheduled to arrive at the red planet in October 2016, deliver the Schiaparelli lander, and then enter orbit to search for traces and origins of methane in the Martian atmosphere, to determine if the presence of that gas – usually associated with biological activity on Earth – is geochemical in nature, or is derived from another source. Plans then call for ExoMars to join the fleet of artificial satellites relaying communications from current and future Mars-exploring rovers and landers to Earth through the 2020s.

Categories Uncrewed SpaceflightTags
Star Wars: Rebels: The Forgotten Droid

Star Wars: RebelsCable channel Disney XD premieres the 32nd episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels, a CGI animated storyline falling between the original and prequel trilogies of the Star Wars saga. Gina Torres (Firefly, Cleopatra 2525) guest stars. Read more (more…)

The Flash: Trajectory

The FlashThe 39th episode of The Flash, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ superhero starring Grant Gustin, airs on the CW.

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Arrow: Broken Hearts

ArrowThe 85th episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW. Neal McDonough (Boomtown) guest stars.

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Star Wars: Rebels: Mystery Of Chopper Base

Star Wars: RebelsCable channel Disney XD premieres the 33rd episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels, a CGI animated storyline falling between the original and prequel trilogies of the Star Wars saga. Read more (more…)

Hitomi breaks contact

HitomiJapan’s Hitomi satellite, launched in February on a three-year X-ray astronomy mission, suddenly breaks contact with JAXA ground controllers when they begin power-up and checkout procedures. Only brief telemetry signals are received from Hitomi before it falls silent. JAXA initiates emergency procedures to contact Hitomi and diagnose the problem, though some telescopic observations from Earth indicate that pieces of the spacecraft have fallen away from the spacecraft itself.

The Flash: Flash Back

The FlashThe 40th episode of The Flash, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ superhero starring Grant Gustin, airs on the CW.

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Arrow: Beacon Of Hope

ArrowThe 86th episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW. Neal McDonough (Boomtown) guest stars.

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Star Wars: Rebels: Twilight Of The Apprentice – Part 1

Star Wars: RebelsCable channel Disney XD premieres the 34th episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels, a CGI animated storyline falling between the original and prequel trilogies of the Star Wars saga. James Earl Jones guest stars as Darth Vader, and this story reintroduces the character of Darth Maul and closes the series’ second season. Read more (more…)

Star Wars: Rebels: Twilight Of The Apprentice – Part 2

Star Wars: RebelsCable channel Disney XD premieres the 35th episode of the series Star Wars: Rebels, a CGI animated storyline falling between the original and prequel trilogies of the Star Wars saga. James Earl Jones guest stars in the second season finale. Read more (more…)

Legends Of Tomorrow: Left Behind

ArrowThe CW airs the ninth episode of Legends Of Tomorrow, starring Arthur Darvill, Brandon Routh, Caity Lotz and Victor Garber.

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Blue Origin NS-4

Blue Origin NS-4Commercial spaceflight operator Blue Origin, owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, launches its fourth New Shepard flight. The uncrewed (but human-rated) capsule and its single-stage suborbital booster come in for soft landings near Blue Origin’s Texas launch facility. This is the third flight for the second New Shepard reusable capsule, as well as the third flight for the second New Shepard reusable booster; both will be flown again later in 2016.

Arrow: Eleven Fifty-Nine

ArrowThe 87th episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW. Neal McDonough (Boomtown) guest stars.

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Legends Of Tomorrow: Progeny

ArrowThe CW airs the tenth episode of Legends Of Tomorrow, starring Arthur Darvill, Brandon Routh, Caity Lotz and Victor Garber. Jewel Staite (Firefly, Stargate: Atlantis) guest stars.

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Dragon CRS-8

Dragon CRS-8 landingSpaceX launches the unmanned Dragon CRS-8 (Commercial Resupply Mission 8) to the International Space Station, carrying supplies and experiments, as well as delivering via its cargo trunk the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), the first new addition to the ISS since 2011. The flight is a success, and for the first time, the Falcon 9 first stage returns intact to an unmanned drone barge in the Atlantic Ocean, where it can be refurbished and reused. Though SpaceX has previously brought an intact booster down on dry land, this is the first success in several attempts to recover the spent first stage at sea.

Gareth Thomas, Blake’s 7 actor, dies

Gareth ThomasWelsh-born actor Gareth Thomas, who starred as Roj Blake in the BBC’s influential space opera Blake’s 7 in the late 1970s, dies at the age of 71. A classical stage actor who starred in a series of cult genre series in the 1970s and 80s, including Star Maidens, Children Of The Stones, and Knights Of God, Thomas had more recently revived Blake for Big Finish’s audio revival of the series, as well as appearing in an episode of Torchwood.

Legends Of Tomorrow: The Magnificent Eight

ArrowThe CW airs the 11th episode of Legends Of Tomorrow, starring Arthur Darvill, Brandon Routh, Caity Lotz and Victor Garber. Brent Stait (Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda) guest stars.

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ISS is BEAMed up

BEAMFor the first time since the final Space Shuttle flights in 2011, a new habitation module is attached to the International Space Station. Brought to orbit via a recent Dragon unmanned cargo craft, the BEAM (Bigelow Expandable Activity Module), constructed by Bigelow Aerospace based on ideas studied by NASA in the 1990s, is a test of a reinforced, inflatible crew module for the station. (The inflation of the module will be accomplished via a supply of air built into the module itself.) Not to be inflated and occupied until May, BEAM will be studied for its resistance to solar radiation and micrometeroid impacts over a two-year period. Bigelow already has plans for an independent, commercial space station utilizing similar inflatible designs if BEAM’s tour of duty is a success, and has previously orbited testbed models of inflatible station modules.

The Flash: Versus Zoom

The FlashThe 41st episode of The Flash, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ superhero starring Grant Gustin, airs on the CW.

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Legends Of Tomorrow: Last Refuge

ArrowThe CW airs the 12th episode of Legends Of Tomorrow, starring Arthur Darvill, Brandon Routh, Caity Lotz and Victor Garber. Celia Imrie (The Nightmare Man) guest stars in an episode directed by Rachel Talalay (Doctor Who).

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The moon of Makemake

Makemake and moonAstronomers reveal that Makemake, an icy dwarf planet orbiting in the distant Kuiper Belt region of the solar system, has a moon, first spotted in 2015 by a team using the Hubble Space Telescope. (The news comes just days after the 26th anniversary of Hubble’s launch.) With an estimated diameter of 100 miles (compared to the 870 mile diameter of its parent body), the satellite orbits Makemake at a distance of 13,000 miles, taking twelve days to complete one orbit. Previous observations failed to pick up on the dark, dim body due to the relatively bright glare of Makemake itself.

The Flash: Back To Normal

The FlashThe 42nd episode of The Flash, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ superhero starring Grant Gustin, airs on the CW.

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Arrow: Canary Cry

ArrowThe 88th episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW. Alex Kingston (Doctor Who) and Katrina Law (Spartacus) guest star.

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Legends Of Tomorrow: Leviathan

ArrowThe CW airs the 13th episode of Legends Of Tomorrow, starring Arthur Darvill, Brandon Routh, Caity Lotz and Victor Garber.

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Hitomi lost

HitomiJAXA, the Japanese Space Agency, declares the Hitomi X-ray astronomy satellite a total loss, having lost all contact with it. Though the diagnosis of the evidence to date is ongoing, engineers conclude from the available data that Hitomi entered an uncontrolled spin and broke up in orbit. JAXA offers apologies not only to other countries’ space agencies who supplied equipment for Hitomi, as well as to astronomers who had hoped to use the satellite.

The Flash: Rupture

The FlashThe 43rd episode of The Flash, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ superhero starring Grant Gustin, airs on the CW.

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Arrow: Genesis

ArrowThe 89th episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW. Neal McDonough (Boomtown) guest stars.

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Isao Tomita, synthesizer pioneer, dies

TomitaJapanese synthesizer pioneer Isao Tomita dies of heart failure at the age of 84. A classically trained composer, Tomita had composed music for such early anime series as Kimba The White Lion, and such live action series as Mighty Jack, prior to importing (at no small expense) a Moog III synthesizer. He experimented with all-synth interpretations of classical music with albums like Snowflakes Are Dancing and The Planets, which quickly became his primary career track as these albums became successful worldwide. He eventually resumed his film/TV scoring career in the 1990s, contributing music to The Twilight Samurai and Welcome Home, Hayabusa. He was working on a new stage musical at the time of his death.

More about Isao Tomita in Music Reviews

Legends Of Tomorrow: River Of Time

ArrowThe CW airs the 14th episode of Legends Of Tomorrow, starring Arthur Darvill, Brandon Routh, Caity Lotz and Victor Garber. Emily Bett Rickards (The Flash) guest stars.

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SpaceX lifts off and lands again

JCSAT-14 landingPrivate space launch contractor SpaceX once again successfully lands the first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket after the booster lifts a Japanese communications satellite into a parking orbit (from which the second stage propels the satellite to geostationary orbit). This second consecutive landing of a Falcon 9 first stage takes place at sea again, with the booster coming in for a faster landing then its predecessor.

The Flash: The Runaway Dinosaur

The FlashThe 44th episode of The Flash, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ superhero starring Grant Gustin, airs on the CW. Jason Mewes (Clerks) guest stars in an episode directed by Kevin Smith.

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Arrow: Monument Point

ArrowThe 90th episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW. Neal McDonough (Boomtown) guest stars.

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