NASA launches the Perseverance Rover on its way to the planet Mars atop an Atlas V rocket. Though built around an assembly of flight spares left over from the Curosity Rover, Perseverance (known more formally as the Mars 2020 Rover) carries new experiments, including an ability to gather soil samples and seal them for pickup and return to Earth by a later (as yet unannounced) mission, over 20 built-in cameras, and – in a first for planetary exploration – a microphone designed to record the sounds of the Martian environment. Also attached to Perseverance is a drone, Ingenuity, designed for independent flight in the Martian atmosphere. Perseverance is aimed at Jezero Crater, an environment where liquid surface water is believed to have existed in Mars’ distant past, with a February 2021 landing date. The vehicle alarms ground controllers by going into a “safe mode” after launch, but communications and telemetry resume shortly afterward.
Streaming service CBS All Access premieres the first episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, created by Mike McMahan (Rick & Morty) as the first ongoing animated Star Trek series since the early 1970s. Chronicling the voyages of a new set of characters aboard the 24th century U.S.S. Cerritos, Lower Decks stars Tawny Newsome (Space Force), Jack Quaid (The Boys), Noel Wells (Craig Of The Creek), Eugene Cordero (Other Space), Dawnn Lewis (A Different World, Futurama), and Jerry O’Connell (Sliders). 
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Streaming service CBS All Access premieres the second episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, created by Mike McMahan (Rick & Morty) and starring Tawny Newsome (Space Force), Jack Quaid (The Boys), Noel Wells (Craig Of The Creek), Eugene Cordero (Other Space), Dawnn Lewis (A Different World, Futurama), and Jerry O’Connell (Sliders). Jess Harnell (Animaniacs) guest stars. (more…)
Ace Records releases Bob Stanley presents ’76 In The Shade, a compilation album assembled by Saint Etienne’s Bob Stanley, representing his musical memories of British radio in the summer of 1976. The album includes songs by Jefferson Starship, 10cc, Cliff Richard, and Smokey Robinson. (more…)
Streaming service CBS All Access premieres the third episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, created by Mike McMahan (Rick & Morty) and starring Tawny Newsome (Space Force), Jack Quaid (The Boys), Noel Wells (Craig Of The Creek), Eugene Cordero (Other Space), Dawnn Lewis (A Different World, Futurama), and Jerry O’Connell (Sliders). Neil Casey (Other Space, Avenue 5) guest stars. (more…)
Streaming service CBS All Access releases the fourth episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, created by Mike McMahan (Rick & Morty) and starring Tawny Newsome (Space Force), Jack Quaid (The Boys), Noel Wells (Craig Of The Creek), Eugene Cordero (Other Space), Dawnn Lewis (A Different World, Futurama), and Jerry O’Connell (Sliders). Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense) guest stars. (more…)
Streaming service CBS All Access releases the fifth episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, created by Mike McMahan (Rick & Morty) and starring Tawny Newsome (Space Force), Jack Quaid (The Boys), Noel Wells (Craig Of The Creek), Eugene Cordero (Other Space), Dawnn Lewis (A Different World, Futurama), and Jerry O’Connell (Sliders). (more…)
Streaming service CBS All Access releases the sixth episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, created by Mike McMahan (Rick & Morty) and starring Tawny Newsome (Space Force), Jack Quaid (The Boys), Noel Wells (Craig Of The Creek), Eugene Cordero (Other Space), Dawnn Lewis (A Different World, Futurama), and Jerry O’Connell (Sliders). Jack McBrayer and J.G. Hertzler (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) guest star. (more…)
Dragon’s Domain Records releases The Don Davis Collection, Volume 1 both digitally and on CD, containing Davis’ complete score from the 2004 BBC space mission mockumentary Voyage To The Planets (which aired in the U.S. as Space Odyssey: Voyage To The Planets). (more…)
Streaming service CBS All Access releases the 30th episode of Star Trek: Discovery, opening the series’ third season, which has been delayed for the better part of a year due to the COVID-19 outbreak forcing an unexpected switch to remote post-production. David Ajala (Doctor Who) joins the series’ regular cast for the third season, which takes place in a future centuries beyond what has previously been chronicled in any prior Star Trek series. (more…)
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx robotic spacecraft successfully gathers a generous sample of the surface regolith of asteroid 101955 Bennu on its first attempt, with some of the material estimated to originate from as deep as 49 centimeters beneath Bennu’s surface. (This result indicates that the asteroid’s surface is much softer and more pliable than expected.) The touchdown point was selected in conjunction with volunteer citizen scientists searching for safe places to gather a sample, and ruling out potential touchdown sites that appeared to be too hazardous. Intended to gather a minimum of 60 grams of material from Bennu, OSIRIS-REx is believed to have exceeded that minimum by a wide margin, and approval is given to stow the sample in its return container a week ahead of schedule. OSIRIS-REx will remain in Bennu’s orbit until March 2021, at which time it will fire its engines to begin its journey to return the samples of asteroid matter to Earth in September 2023.
Streaming service Disney+ premieres the the ninth episode of Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian, the first live-action TV series set in the Star Wars universe, starring Pedro Pascal. Timothy Olyphant and Amy Sedaris guest star in the second season premiere. (more…)
Scottish actor Sean Connery, forever associated with originating the character of super-spy James Bond on film (in 1962’s Dr. No), dies at the age of 90. He played the role of Bond in six films from 1962 through 1971, relinquishing the role to Roger Moore so he could try to expand his career beyond the Bond character and franchise, though he returned to the role for a one-off 1983 film, Never Say Never Again, which was produced outside of the “official” Bond continuity and dared to acknowledge the character’s (and actor’s) advancing age. In the meantime, he had amassed a number of appearances in movies both well-regarded and otherwise, including the bizarre post-apocalyptic sci-fi film Zardoz (1974) and the sci-fi crime drama Outland (1981). In 1986, his appearance in Highlander saw the beginning of a number of films in which he played the mentor of a given movie’s nominal star, including The Untouchables (1987) and Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (1989). His experiences in filming his final live-action film appearance, 2003’s League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, convinced him to retire from acting; family members said that he suffered from dementia in his final years.
The International Space Station reaches a major milestone, marking two decades of constant human presence in space. Despite close calls with space debris, reduced staffing in the months following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, coolant leaks requiring spacewalks, and losses of resupply vehicles, the orbiting laboratory has maintained a steady human presence in space.
Streaming service Disney+ releases the the tenth episode of Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian, starring Pedro Pascal. Amy Sedaris and Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace) guest star. (more…)
The BBC premieres the first episode of Daleks!, an animated Doctor Who spinoff centered around that franchise’s most enduring villains, on YouTube, featuring the voices of Ayesha Antoine and Nicholas Briggs. This is part of the “Time Lord Victorious” alternate-timeline multimedia event. (more…)
Streaming service Disney+ releases the the 11th episode of Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian, starring Pedro Pascal. Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) guest stars. (more…)
Following the first crewed test flight earlier in the year, SpaceX launches the first operational Crew Dragon flight to the International Space Station, with astronauts Michael S. Hopkins, Victor J. Glover, Sôichi Noguchi, and Shannon Walker aboard. This is also the first long-duration mission for the Crew Dragon, which will see the spacecraft remain docked to the station for several months before returning to Earth.
The BBC releases the second episode of Daleks!, an animated Doctor Who spinoff centered around that franchise’s most enduring villains, on YouTube, featuring the voices of Joe Sugg and Nicholas Briggs. This is part of the “Time Lord Victorious” alternate-timeline multimedia event. (more…)
After being in operation for most of the past 57 years, the fate of the Arecibo Radio Telescope facility is sealed by the failure of two major tension cables suspending the 900-ton equipment platform over the dish carved into the Puerto Rican countryside. Engineering safety assessments reveal that other cables are on the verge of failure, which could lead to an “uncontrolled collapse” putting the lives of nearby researchers and engineers at risk. As a result, the Arecibo facility – originally a project of Cornell University but now managed by the University of Central Florida – is slated for demolition as soon as is safely possible, provided its aging superstructure doesn’t collapse under its own weight first. The observatory’s physical superstructure had been under close observation since suffering major damage from Hurricane Maria, which caused widespread destruction in Puerto Rico in 2017. The closure of the Arecibo facility marks the end of a significant era of radio astronomy.
Hired by Lucille Ball to help turn around the fortunes of Desilu Studios in the 1960s following her divorce from studio co-founder Desi Arnaz, producer and production executive Herbert F. Solow became known as “the man who sold Star Trek” – namely, he pitched the series to the networks, and finally made a sale to NBC, getting the storied science fiction series on the air at last. Solow also sold CBS on the spy-fi series Mission: Impossible at the same time, and later scored another major sale to CBS in the form of the detective series Mannix. He adapted (from a novel) and produced the early 1970s TV movie adaptation Killdozer, and co-created the late ’70s sci-fi series Man From Atlantis. He also went on to add “movie producer” to his resume; in later years, he looked back fondly upon his role in starting the Star Trek franchise with such biographical books as “Inside Star Trek: The Real Story“. Herb Solow died at the age of 89.
Streaming service Disney+ releases the the 12th episode of Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian, starring Pedro Pascal. Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, and Giancarlo Esposito guest star in an episode directed by Weathers. (more…)
The BBC releases the third episode of Daleks!, an animated Doctor Who spinoff centered around that franchise’s most enduring villains, on YouTube, featuring the voices of Anjli Mohindra (The Sarah Jane Adventures), Ayesha Antoine, and Nicholas Briggs. This is part of the “Time Lord Victorious” alternate-timeline multimedia event, and marks the first on-screen appearance of the Mechanoids since their debut in a 1966 Doctor Who episode. (more…)
Streaming service Disney+ releases the the 13th episode of Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian, starring Pedro Pascal. Rosario Dawson (Daredevil) assumes the role of an older Ahsoka Tano, the character’s first live-action appearance after being established in previous Star Wars animated series. (more…)
British-born actor and bodybuilder David Prowse, a towering figure who gained fame primarily as the physical embodiment of Darth Vader in the first three Star Wars films, dies after a brief illness at the age of 85. Sought after for movie roles – often non-speaking, and frequently in monster suits of one kind or another – Prowse had also played a Minotaur in Doctor Who (The Time Monster, 1972), a space creature in Space: 1999 (The Beta Cloud, 1976), and even after his sudden rise to fame via Star Wars, appeared in such roles as Hotblack Desiato’s bodyguard in the fifth episode of the BBC’s TV adaptation of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy in 1981, which offered him a rare speaking part. A favorite on the convention and autograph circuit, Prowse had only retired from a busy schedule of convention appearances a couple of years prior to his death. He was sought by George Lucas to play either Vader or Chewbacca after Lucas saw his brief appearance as a muscular bodyguard in Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. Prowse had also appeared as a superhero in a series of public safety announcements and films in the UK, which won him much acclaim over the years.
The 57-year-old Arecibo Radio Telescope is destroyed when its 900-ton equipment platform, suspended over the massive dish built into a geographic feature near Arecibo, Puerto Rico, falls into the dish, causing catastrophic damage to both. The platform had been suspended by miles of steel cables from three towers over the dish, through a recent assessment of the ability of both cables and towers to bear the platform’s load had raised doubts that the facility could remain operational. As the decision had already been made to decommission and dismantle the Arecibo telescope, the facility had already been evacuated prior to the collapse. The towers holding the platform over the dish also suffer severe damage, rendering them structurally unsafe as well. Locals compared the sound of the event to that of an avalanche or an earthquake.
theLogBook.com releases the 19th episode of the Retrogram podcast, hosted by Earl Green, covering the following shows from the seventh season of Doctor Who aired in 1970:
- Doctor Who: Spearhead From Space
- Doctor Who: Doctor Who and the SIlurians
- Doctor Who: The Ambassadors Of Death
- Doctor Who: Inferno
The BBC releases the fourth episode of Daleks!, an animated Doctor Who spinoff centered around that franchise’s most enduring villains, on YouTube, featuring the voices of Anjli Mohindra (The Sarah Jane Adventures), Ayesha Antoine, and Nicholas Briggs. This is part of the “Time Lord Victorious” alternate-timeline multimedia event. (more…)
Streaming service Disney+ releases the the 14th episode of Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian, starring Pedro Pascal. Temuera Morrison (Star Wars Episode II) returns to the role of Boba Fett. (more…)
The Japanese space agency, JAXA, successfully recovers the Hayabusa-2 space probe’s sample return container after its return to Earth in Austrailia. The container’s precious cargo is 100 milligrams of surface and subsurface material retrieved by Hayabusa-2 from the surface of asteroid 162173 Ryugu during a series of touch-and-go maneuvers performed between February and July of 2019. Though it drops its samples off during a close flyby of Earth, Hayabusa-2 remains in space, where JAXA hopes to redirect it to study further asteroids, though the probe will no longer have the ability to gather or return samples.
The BBC releases the fifth and final episode of Daleks!, an animated Doctor Who spinoff centered around that franchise’s most enduring villains, on YouTube, featuring the voices of Anjli Mohindra (The Sarah Jane Adventures), Ayesha Antoine, and Nicholas Briggs. This is part of the “Time Lord Victorious” alternate-timeline multimedia event. (more…)
Streaming service Disney+ releases the the 15th episode of Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian, starring Pedro Pascal. Temuera Morrison, Bill Burr, and Giancarlo Esposito guest star. (more…)
Former Atari game designer and programmer Howard Scott Warshaw self-publishes his memoir, Once Upon Atari: How I Made History By Killing An Industry. (more…)
Episodes 47-49 of the science fiction series The Expanse, based on the series of novels by James S.A. Corey (a pseudonym for writers Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham), premiere on streaming service Amazon Prime. Though the first three season five episodes – Exodus, Churn, and Mother – drop simultaneously, Amazon will release the remainder of the fifth season one episode per week. This season is an adaptation of the novel Nemesis Games.
British actor Jeremy Bulloch, best known internationally for playing the role of Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return Of The Jedi (1983), dies at the age of 75. A child actor who went professional at a young age, Bulloch made two Doctor Who appearances (The Space Museum, 1965 and The Time Warrior, 1973), and made guest appearances in Strange Report, Chocky, and Robin of Sherwood. His initial appearance as Boba Fett was considered a very minor role for him as he was, at the time, starring in the popular UK sitcom Agony, broadcast on London Weekend Television, and his combined appearances in both Star Wars films added up to less than two minutes of screen time. After making a fleeting appearance as an unrelated character in 2005‘s Star Wars Episode III, Bulloch became a regular in the 2009 sci-fi comedy Starhyke, co-starring as the ship’s doctor. Like many of his other masked Star Wars castmates, his helmet afforded him little anonymity and he was a favorite on the sci-fi convention circuit.