Nauka Module docks with International Space Station
Delayed several days due to technical glitches that occurred after its launch, the Russian Nauka Multipurpose Logisitics Module Upgrade docks with the International Space Station. Some glitches continue to occur during the modules approach and docking phase, with the Russian crew members aboard the station manually intervening when necessary. After docking, however, Nauka’s thrusters begin firing, rotating the station 45 degrees off-axis, eventually exhausting its fuel supply. Once its thrusters are no longer capable of moving the station, the station is restored to its original orientation, with NASA reassuring the public that the event posed no danger to the crew. Some spacewalks will be required to fully connect Nauka’s systems to those of the rest of the station, but it is expected to become the hub of Russia’s research activity aboard the ISS.
Retrogram 7250: Would The Last Man On The Moon Please Turn Out The Lights?
theLogBook.com releases the seventh episode of the Retrogram podcast, hosted by Earl Green, covering the following shows from the week of December 10th, 1972:
- Night Gallery: Fright Night
- Ghost Story: Creatures Of The Canyon
- The Sixth Sense: Gallows In The Wind
Torchwood: Escape To L.A.
American pay cable channel Starz premieres the 35th episode of Russell T. Davies’ science fiction series Torchwood, with a season subtitle of Miracle Day. Bill Pullman (Independence Day) and Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under) guest star.
More about Torchwood in the LogBook and theLogBook.com Store
Torchwood now streaming on HBO Max
Eureka: Bad To The Drone
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 26th episode of the science fiction series Eureka, starring Colin Ferguson, Salli Richardson, and Joe Morton. Niall Matter (Primeval: New World) guest stars in the third season premiere.
More about Eureka in the LogBook and theLogBook.com Store
Eureka now streaming on Amazon Prime
Battlestar Galactica: Fragged
Sci-Fi channel airs the 16th episode of Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica. Kate Vernon and Richard Hatch guest star.
More about Battlestar Galactica in the LogBook and theLogBook.com Store
Battlestar Galactica now streaming on Amazon Prime
Jason Falkner presents Author Unknown
Former Jellyfish guitarist Jason Falkner releases his first solo album, Jason Falkner presents Author Unknown.
Forever Knight: Crazy Love
The 48th episode of the supernatural crime series Forever Knight airs in syndication, starring Geraint Wyn-Davies, Catherine Disher, Nigel Bennett, and John Kapelos. This is the second season finale; the third season will see the series move to U.S. cable channel USA Network.
More about Forever Knight in theLogBook.com Store
Forever Knight now streaming on Amazon Prime
The Max Headroom Show: Episode 7
The seventh episode of The Max Headroom Show premieres, starring Matt Frewer. (This is the music video/talk show series, not the American-made drama series featuring the same character.) Michael Caine guest stars. This is the first episode of the show’s second season.
More about Max Headroom in the LogBook and theLogBook.com Store
Max Headroom now streaming on Amazon Prime
STS-51F: Challenger aborts to orbit
For the first and only time in the history of the shuttle program, Space Shuttle Challenger does an in-flight abort maneuver – in this case, an Abort To Orbit (ATO) following the premature shutdown of one of the shuttle’s main engines. The potentially catastrophic shutdown of a second engine is narrowly avoided by a sharp-eyed ground controller, and Challenger makes it to orbit and the rest of the mission is conducted normally.
Wargame publisher Avalon Hill’s subsidiary Microcomputer Games Inc. releases the computer role playing game Salyut 6 falls to Earth
The Soviet Union’s Salyut 6 space station, unoccupied for over a year, re-enters Earth’s atmosphere with the Kosmos 1267 module still docked; both the station and its added module disintegrate over unpopulated ocean.
The Golden Record
With less than a month to go before the launch of the first of two Voyager unmanned spacecraft, NASA attaches copper phonograph records, encased in lightweight, protective golden casings, to each of the Voyager probes. With participation from Carl Sagan (who led the effort to mount a plaque on the Pioneer probes consisting only of visual information), SETI pioneer Frank Drake, Jon Lomberg and others, the 12″ LP consists of not only sound recordings, but photos and diagrams depicting the diversity and composition of life on Earth. The sounds include various kinds of Earth wildlife, spoken messages from President Jimmy Carter and United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, music from Beethoven and Bach to Chuck Berry (the Beatles decline permission to include “Here Comes The Sun”), and Carl Sagan’s young son Nick delcaring “Greetings from the children of planet Earth.” The outer casing includes a playback mechanism and diagrams for how to use it.
In the decades to come, fictional aliens visiting or invading Earth because they have viewed the Voyager “Golden Record” becomes a staple of science fiction media.
NOAA-5
NASA and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration launch NOAA-5, a weather satellite intended to operate in a near-polar low Earth orbit. Within two weeks of its launch, NOAA-5 proves instrumental in tracking Hurricane Belle, a category 1 hurricane, as it approaches and makes landfall in the northeastern United States. NOAA-5 will operate without any major malfunctions through July 1979.
Ace Of Wands: One And One And One Are Four, Part 1
ITV premieres the first episode of Ace Of Wands, starring Michael McKenzie, Tony Selby and Judy Loe. David Prowse (Star Wars) guest stars. This episode, like the rest of the series’ first two seasons, is now missing from the archives.
More about Ace Of Wands in the LogBook
Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast
Mariner 7: heart-stopper at Mars
Just two days before its sister ship Mariner 6 makes its closest flyby of Mars, NASA/JPL’s unmanned space explorer Mariner 7 loses all contact with Earth. Ground controllers race to find a solution, re-establishing communications via Mariner 7’s low-gain antenna, which can only return data at a reduced speed and bandwidth. Its high-gain antenna resumes normal operation shortly after Mariner 6’s closest pass by Mars, allowing Mariner 7 to complete its mission as planned.