Blue Origin NS-19
Blue Origin launches the NS-19 suborbital flight aboard a New Shepard capsule, the third crewed flight of the vehicle. Passengers on the flight include Dylan Taylor, Evan Dick, Lane Bess, Cameron Bess, NFL Hall-of-Famer Michael Strahan, and Laura Shepard Churchley, the daughter of Alan Shepard, the first American astronaut to reach space. Lane and Cameron Bess are the first parent and child to fly to space on the same vehicle.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 15
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.
Blue Origin NS-12
Commercial spaceflight operator Blue Origin, owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, launches its twelfth New Shepard flight. The uncrewed (but human-rated) capsule includes 38 experimental payloads, some of them designed by NASA, Columbia University, and two winners of an “art in space” contest sponsored by rock group OK Go. As with past missions, both the capsule and its single-stage suborbital booster come in for soft landings near Blue Origin’s Texas launch facility. This is the sixth flight for the third New Shepard reusable capsule, as well as the sixth flight for the third New Shepard reusable booster.
Arrow: Three Ghosts
The 32nd episode of Arrow, a modern-day reboot of DC Comics’ Green Arrow superhero starring Stephen Amell, airs on the CW. Caity Lotz (Mad Men, Legends Of Tomorrow) and Grant Gustin (The Flash) guest star.
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X-37B OTV-3
Loaded into an aerodynamic shroud atop an Atlas V rocket, the U.S. Air Force launches the X-37B unmanned spacecraft into Earth orbit. Originally scheduled for an October launch, the Boeing-built X-37B resembles a scaled-down Space Shuttle. Whereas this vehicle had previously stayed in space for several months in 2010 before returning, its second flight sees it remain in orbit for nearly two years, not coming in for an automated landing until October 2014. Details of the vehicle’s mission and payload remain classified; the flight is designated USA-240.
Black Mirror: Fifteen Million Merits
The second episode of Charlie Brooker’s anthology series Black Mirror premieres on the U.K.’s Channel 4. Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Black Panther), Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey) and Rupert Everett (My Best Friend’s Wedding) guest star.
Dollhouse: Meet Jane Doe / A Love Supreme
The 19th and 20th episodes of Joss Whedon’s futuristic “spy-fi” series Dollhouse air on Fox, starring Eliza Dushku. Jonathan Del Arco (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and Patton Oswalt guest star. As the series has now been cancelled, Fox is “burning off” episodes at a rate of two per week.
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Dollhouse now streaming on Amazon Prime
Expedition 10 makes a meal of the ISSues
NASA orders the crew of the International Space Station to cut back on meals. Without the Space Shuttle delivering supplies to the station, resupply missions have been flown only by Russia’s much smaller unmanned Progress capsules, but the station was never designed to be restocked by Progress alone. Astronaut Leroy Chiao and cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov are ordered to cut back on calories – with a reduction in workload to match – until more food arrives on a Progress capsule scheduled for liftoff on Christmas Eve. A failure of that flight could lead to an order to abandon the station.
The E:FC: The Cloister
The 54th episode of Gene Roddenberry’s Earth: Final Conflict, airs in syndication, starring Robert Leeshock, Jayne Heitmeyer, Von Flores, and Richard Chevolleau. Marina Sirtis (Star Trek: The Next Generation) guest stars.
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Earth: Final Conflict now streaming on Amazon Prime
Star Trek: Insurrection
Paramount debuts Star Trek: Insurrection in theaters, featuring the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation directed by their own co-star, Jonathan Frakes. Written by former TNG executive producer Michael Piller, the writer responsible for the fan-favorite TV two-parter The Best Of Both Worlds, this movie’s development is somewhat troubled, and its increased reliance on humor earns mixed reviews.
The Outer Limits: Black Box
Showtime airs the 86th episode of The Outer Limits, a revival of the 1960s science fiction anthology series. Ron Perlman (Beauty & The Beast, Hellboy) guest stars.
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Lexx: Mantrid
Sci-Fi Channel premieres the fifth episode of Lexx, commencing the show’s second season. For some time, Lexx remains Sci-Fi Channel’s most-watched original series, thanks in no small part to a promotional campaign which must overcome, among other things, the series’ name change (following Showtime’s broadcast of the four-movie first season as “Tales From A Parallel Universe”).
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Lexx now streaming on Amazon Prime
Aquila: Manual Control
The fourth episode of children’s science fiction series Aquila premieres on BBC1, starring Ben Brooks and Craig Vye. The series is adapted by Andrew Norriss from his own novel of the same name.
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Team Knight Rider: Oil & Water
The tenth episode of the sequel series Team Knight Rider airs in syndication, starring Brixton Karnes, Christine Steel, Duane Davis, and Nick Wechsler. Tom Virtue guest stars.
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Team Knight Rider now streaming on Amazon Prime
UPN airs the Earth 2: Water
NBC airs the sixth episode of the science fiction series Earth 2, starring Debrah Farentino, Clancy Brown, and Antonio Sabato Jr. Terry O’Quinn (Lost) guest stars.
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Fox Network premieres Freddy’s Nightmares: Rebel Without A Car
The ninth episode of the horror anthology series Freddy’s Nightmares is broadcast in syndication in North America, hosted by Robert Englund in character as Freddy Krueger.
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Star Trek: TNG spawns action figures
Lewis Galoob Toys releases its first wave of toys from Star Trek: The Next Generation, consisting of six characters (all members of the Enterprise crew) and a die-cast metal miniature starship Enterprise. While there’s an instant interest from Star Trek collectors, Galoob is perhaps a bit premature: the series upon which its toys are based is in the middle of a very uneven first season, and has demonstrated more appeal to older viewers than to the age group that normally buys action figures. A more successful line, geared more toward adult collectors, will surface in the 1990s.
More about Galoob Star Trek: The Next Generation toys in ToyBox
Twilight Zone: Episode 30
CBS airs the 30th episode of a revival of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone. Joe Penny (Jake And The Fatman, Riptide) stars in George R.R. Martin’s The Road Less Traveled, directed by Wes Craven (A Nightmare On Elm Street).
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The Twilight Zone now streaming on Paramount Plus
Darkroom: Episode 3
NBC airs the third episode of Darkroom, a horror anthology hosted by James Coburn. The series features multiple stories per episode; this installment includes Needlepoint, guest starring Esther Rolle (Good Times), and Siege Of 31 August, guest starring Ronny Cox.
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Ark II: Don Quixote
CBS airs the 14th episode of Filmation’s live-action Saturday morning science fiction series Ark II. 
Electra Woman & Dyna Girl: The Spider Lady, Part 2
ABC airs the 14th episode of Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, part of the Krofft Supershow Saturday morning children’s programming block. This is part two of a two-part story, each episode lasting only around 12 minutes. Tiffany Bolling guest stars.
Space: 1999: The Full Circle
The 15th episode of Gerry Anderson’s space adventure series Space: 1999, The Full Circle premieres on British broadcaster ITV.
Nimbus 5
NASA launches the Nimbus 5 satellite, designed to observe weather patterns from orbit and test new weather and climate detection technologies. Launched into a polar orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Nimbus 5 includes newly-developed experiments to examine Earth in the microwave and infrared portions of the spectrum.
NOAA-1
NASA and the newly-rechristened National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (formerly ESSA) launch NOAA-1, a weather satellite intended to operate in a near-polar low Earth orbit. Equipped with four cameras, NOAA-1 will operate in orbit for nearly a year before it begins suffering equipment malfunctions. Overheating in the spacecraft’s attitude control system forces ground controllers to turn off some of its weather sensing equipment, and NOAA-1 will eventually be shut down in August 1971.
Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea: The Lost Bomb
The 71st episode of Irwin Allen’s adventure series Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea airs on ABC, starring Richard Basehart and David Hedison. John Lupton guest stars.
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It’s About Time: The Sacrifice
The 14th episode of the time travel sitcom It’s About Time, created by Sherwood Schwarz (I Dream Of Jeannie) and starring Frank Aletter, Jack Mullaney, and Imogene Coca, is broadcast on CBS. Gary Nelson (future director of The Black Hole) directs.
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Doctor Who: Counter Plot
The 95th episode of Doctor Who airs on the BBC. This is part five of the mammoth 12-part story now collectively known as The Daleks’ Master Plan. This is one of only three parts of the story not missing from the BBC’s archives.
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