En route to becoming the first human-made spacecraft to visit Jupiter, NASA’s Pioneer 10 also becomes the first human-made spacecraft to enter the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Whether or not the spacecraft will survive this crossing is indeed one of the mission’s major experiments, and is a topic of active debate between scientists with differing views of how densely populated the asteroid belt may be. The spacecraft will survive the crossing without incident.
BBC1 airs the 33rd episode of Doomwatch. This episode, guest starring Madhav Sharma (Moonbase 3) and Marc Zuber (The Changes) no longer exists in the BBC’s archives.
ITV airs the 27th episode of Ace Of Wands, starring Michael McKenzie, and introducing new cast members Petra Markham and Roy Holder. This episode is the beginning of the series’ third and final season. 
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Originally named ERTS-1 (Earth Resource Technology Satellite), NASA’s Landsat satellite, based on the Nimbus weather satellites, is launched to begin constant observations of Earth’s land, air and oceans. Landsat 1’s tour of duty lasts just under six years, during which it discovers a previously unknown island – never before spotted from land or sea – off the northeastern Canadian coast. Landsat 1 remains in service through 1978.
BBC1 airs the 34th episode of Doomwatch. This episode, guest starring Michael Keating (Blake’s 7), no longer exists in the BBC’s archives.
ITV airs the 28th episode of Ace Of Wands, starring Michael MacKenzie, Petra Markham, and Roy Holder. (more…)
BBC1 airs the 35th episode of Doomwatch. This episode no longer exists in the BBC’s archives.
ITV airs the 29th episode of Ace Of Wands, starring Michael MacKenzie, Petra Markham, and Roy Holder. (more…)
BBC1 airs the 35th episode of Doomwatch. This episode, guest starring Nicholas Courtney (who is, at this time, still appearing in Doctor Who as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), no longer exists in the BBC’s archives.
ITV airs the 30th episode of Ace Of Wands, starring Michael MacKenzie, Petra Markham, and Roy Holder. Donald Layne-Smith guest stars as Mr. Sweet. (more…)
In the broad daylight of mid-afternoon, an asteroid measuring somewhere between 10 and 50 feet in diameter plows through Earth’s atmosphere over North America, creating a long-tailed fireball across the sky. Undetected before its close pass – only 35 miles from Earth’s surface – asteroid US19720810 skips off of the atmosphere and back into space, having lost half of its mass to the frictional heating of plummeting through the atmosphere. The spectacle lasts only a couple of minutes, and US19720810 will make another pass by the Earth in 1997 (though not at such a close distance). 
BBC1 airs the 37th episode of Doomwatch. This episode no longer exists in the BBC’s archives. Due to its controversial content, the following episode, Sex And Violence, is never broadcast by the BBC, and production on the series is shut down before the planned 13th and final episode of the season can be filmed, effectively making Killer Doplhins the series’ broadcast swan song.
ITV airs the 31st episode of Ace Of Wands, starring Michael MacKenzie, Petra Markham, and Roy Holder. Donald Layne-Smith guest stars as Mr. Sweet. (more…)
NASA launches the third and final Orbiting Astronomical Observatory satellite, given the nickname “Copernicus” when it successfully enters service near the 500th anniversary of the birth of the famed astronomer of the same name. OAO-3 is a joint venture between NASA and universities in the U.S. and the U.K., again focusing largely on ultraviolet observation of the sky, and it is instrumental in the discovery and study of long-period pulsars. OAO-3 will remain in service through February 1981, its successful nine-year mission lending weight to the ongoing construction and planning of NASA’s Space Telescope project, later to be known as the Hubble Space Telescope.
The British science fiction series Doctor Who is broadcast in the United States for the first time on WPHL, an independent commercial TV station in Philadelphia. WPHL is among the first American stations to have purchased a syndication package of Doctor Who episodes, starrring Jon Pertwee as the third Doctor, from BBC Enterprises by way of Time-Life Television. The package includes the series’ first two color seasons, plus the first story from the 1972 season (the relatively recent Day Of The Daleks). The success of Star Trek reruns in syndication may well have indie stations convinced that Doctor Who is the next big thing…
ITV airs the 32nd episode of Ace Of Wands, starring Michael MacKenzie, Petra Markham, and Roy Holder. (more…)
ITV airs the 33rd episode of Ace Of Wands, starring Michael MacKenzie, Petra Markham, and Roy Holder. (more…)
ITV airs the 34th episode of Ace Of Wands, starring Michael MacKenzie, Petra Markham, and Roy Holder. Brian Wilde (Last Of The Summer Wine) guest stars. (more…)
NBC premieres the first episode of Search, a “spy-fi” series created by Leslie Stevens (The Outer Limits) and starring Hugh O’Brian and Burgess Meredith. Maurice Evans (Planet Of The Apes) guest stars. The series pilot aired earlier in 1972 under the title PROBE. (more…)
NBC airs the second episode of the supernatural anthology series Ghost Story, produced by 1960s horror movie mogul William Castle and starring Sebastian Cabot. Jason Robards and Stella Stevens guest star in a script written by Robert Specht (The Immortal, Ark II). (This series will be retitled Circle Of Fear in 1973.) (more…)
American television manufacturer Magnavox releases the world’s first home video game system, the Odyssey, based on the hardware of Ralph Baer’s Brown Box created at Sanders & Associates. The system includes not only two bulky controllers and six basic games, but colorful, semi-transparent overlays suitable for the two most common TV screen sizes and other playing pieces, such as cards and poker chips. Other games and a light gun accessory will be sold in 1973. Magnavox has been including the Odyssey in its in-person product demonstrations since spring 1972. (more…)
The second episode of Leslie Steven’s “spy-fi” series Search airs on NBC, starring Tony Franciosa and Burgess Meredith. Stefanie Powers (Hart To Hart) and Larry Linville (M*A*S*H) guest star. (more…)
NBC airs the third episode of the supernatural anthology series Ghost Story, produced by 1960s horror movie mogul William Castle and starring Sebastian Cabot. Gena Rowlands guest stars in a script based on a short story by Elizabeth Walter, and directed by future Superman movie director Richard Donner. (This series will be retitled Circle Of Fear in 1973.) (more…)
The 14th episode of The Sixth Sense airs on ABC, starring Gary Collins. Ed Nelson and Sharon Gless (Cagney & Lacey) guest star in the second season premiere.
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NBC airs the 30th episode of Night Gallery, an anthology series of original short plays and short story adaptations hosted by Rod Serling. Vincent Price and Bill Bixby guest star in the third season opener; the series has now been cut down to a half-hour time slot.
The third episode of Leslie Steven’s “spy-fi” series Search airs on NBC, starring Doug McClure and Burgess Meredith. Jeff Corey guest stars. (more…)
NBC airs the fourth episode of the supernatural anthology series Ghost Story, produced by 1960s horror movie mogul William Castle and starring Sebastian Cabot. James Franciscus and Meg Foster guest star. (This series will be retitled Circle Of Fear in 1973.)
The 15th episode of The Sixth Sense airs on ABC, starring Gary Collins. Joan Crawford guest stars in what would prove to be her final on-screen role.
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The first episode of the animated science fiction series Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman airs on Japanese broadcaster Fuji TV. A creation of Tatsunoko Studios (Astro Boy), the series follows five young people with superpowers defending the world from the machinations of the sinister Galactus organization. This series will later be heavily edited – primarily for violence – and dubbed into English as Battle Of The Planets. (more…)
NBC airs the 31st episode of Night Gallery, an anthology series of original short plays and short story adaptations hosted by Rod Serling. James Farentino, John Astin, and Joanna Pettet guest star.
The fourth episode of Leslie Steven’s “spy-fi” series Search airs on NBC, starring Hugh O’Brian and Burgess Meredith. Jo Ann Pflug guest stars. (more…)
NBC airs the fifth episode of the supernatural anthology series Ghost Story, produced by 1960s horror movie mogul William Castle and starring Sebastian Cabot. Karen Black and Kaz Garas (Strange Report) guest star. (This series will be retitled Circle Of Fear in 1973.)
The 16th episode of The Sixth Sense airs on ABC, starring Gary Collins. June Allyson guest stars.
This series is not yet fully chronicled in the LogBook. You could help change that.
More about The Sixth Sense in the LogBook
The second episode of the animated science fiction series Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman airs on Japanese broadcaster Fuji TV. A creation of Tatsunoko Studios (Astro Boy), the series follows five young people with superpowers defending the world from the machinations of the sinister Galactus organization. This series will later be heavily edited – primarily for violence – and dubbed into English as Battle Of The Planets. (more…)
Decca Records releases the eighth album by the Moody Blues, Seventh Sojourn (the seven, in this case, referring to the seventh album by the band since the addition of Justin Hayward and John Lodge in the 1960s). The album includes the singles “Isn’t Life Strange” and “I’m Just a Singer in a Rock and Roll Band”.