1.44 pm ET, 17-Oct-97
NASA Attempts New Pathfinder Fix
Today NASA officials said they would attempt to use the auxiliary transmitter aboard the Mars Pathfinder landing craft to reestablish contact with the vehicle, which has been incommunicado since Oct. 7. The Pathfinder operations team believes the craft is still functional but that colder-than-normal operating temperatures caused by degradation of the spacecraft battery are responsible for the communication problems.
Officials currently theorize that Pathfinder has entered a "no battery" mode, which would affect the craft's ability to keep time accurately. If that happened, Pathfinder would be powered on for shorter amounts of time each day, allowing the hardware to become colder than normal and possibly causing the spacecraft to operate differently than expected.
1:19 pm ET, 17-Oct-97
Space Author James Michener Dead At 90
Pulitzer Prize-winning author James Michener, who is best known to SF fans for his historical fiction novel Space, died Thursday, Oct. 16, at his home in Austin, Texas. Michener succumbed to kidney failure 10 days after he voluntarily quit the dialysis treatments that had kept him alive since 1993. He was 90.
Michener was considered a giant of American popular literature, and by his death he had written 40 novels that together sold roughly 75 million copies. Many of his books were turned into television series and films, including a 13-hour version of his 1982 book Space, which aired on CBS as a five-part miniseries in 1985.
Michener was also a well-known philanthropist and by his own accounts he gave away more than $100 million to schools, museums and libraries. In 1948 he won the Pulitzer for his first novel, Tales of the South Pacific, which was later turned into the hit musical South Pacific.
3:43 pm ET, 16-Oct-97
Star Wars Toy And Book Deals Struck
Yesterday Lucasfilm announced it had reached deals with Hasbro Inc. and Galoob Toys to renew the licenses for its Star Wars toy lines, which will include toys from the upcoming prequel movies. The deal will reportedly bring in $600 million in royalty payments for Lucasfilm, plus the option to buy a 20 percent stake in Galoob and a 5 percent piece of Hasbro.
In return, Hasbro and Galoob will receive a lock on the lucrative Star Wars toy market, which Hasbro has said is responsible for about 40 percent of its sales to boys. Hasbro will also extend its Star Wars line into electronic hand-held games, die cast vehicles and "creative play products."
In a separate deal announced today, the Ballantine Publishing Group purchased the rights to future Star Wars books that include novelizations of the prequels, all nonfiction books based on the new films, and the rights to any spin-off novels. The books will be published under Ballantine's Del Rey imprint, which already publishes novelizations and both fiction and nonfiction books related to the first three movies.
2:11 pm ET, 16-Oct-97
Voyager, Sentinel Switch Timeslots
Beginning Wednesday, Nov. 5, the UPN shows Star Trek: Voyager and The Sentinel will be trading timeslots. Voyager, which usually runs at 9 p.m. on Wednesdays, will be moving to the 8 p.m. slot, while The Sentinel will be moving from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The move is part of an overall scheduling reshuffle at UPN that also includes the shows Clueless, Moesha, Hitz and Malcolm & Eddie.
11:33 am ET, 16-Oct-97
Cassini Probe Begins 11-Year Mission
After a two-day delay, the Cassini planetary probe was launched into space yesterday at 4:43 a.m. EDT, marking the start of an 11-year mission to Saturn. The controversial probe had been scheduled to launch Monday, Oct. 13, but bad weather and minor technical problems kept it grounded.
The $3.4 billion Cassini will spend seven years in transit to Saturn, which includes a 1999 "slingshot" flight around Earth, and then another four years orbiting the ringed planet. Once at Saturn, Cassini will carry out 18 on-board experiments and will also launch a smaller probe that will land on the surface of Saturn's moon, Titan.
Protesters had opposed the launch for fear that the 72 pounds of radioactive plutonium Cassini carries would be released into Earth's atmosphere if something had gone wrong. The protestors are also worried about the potential for disaster during Cassini's 1999 flyby of Earth, although NASA officials have said the odds of an accident occurring then would be one in a million.
3:03 pm ET, 15-Oct-97
No Truth To Doctor Who Rumors
Despite numerous Internet reports to the contrary, the Sci-Fi Channel has not been talking to the BBC about bringing back the popular British television series Doctor Who. "We'd consider the opportunity, but as of yet there have been no discussions," said Barry Schulman, vice president of programming for the channel.
The rumors of a Who revival have been circulating on Web sites, newsgroups and mailing lists since Monday. They were apparently fueled by the recent Sci-Fi Channel/BBC co-production of the miniseries Invasion Earth, which will air on the channel in 1998.
3:03 pm ET, 15-Oct-97
Terminator Rights Sell For $8 Million
AGV Productions purchased a half-share of the rights to produce Terminator sequels, prequels and remakes for $8 million during a limited auction yesterday, according to The Hollywood Reporter. However, it's unclear where this leaves potential plans for a Terminator 3 movie, since the co-owners of the rights seem to be at odds.
Pacific Western Productions, which owns the other half of the Terminator rights, had been seeking to prevent AGV from participating in the auction, but then unexpectedly dropped its objections. The two will have to reach an agreement before a third film can be made, and even then both Terminator writer/director James Cameron and star Arnold Schwarzenegger have said they are no longer interested in the project.
6:22 pm ET, 14-Oct-97
Starship Titanic Delayed Until 1998
The release of Douglas Adams Starship Titanic, a new CD-ROM adventure game from the creator of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, has been postponed until the first quarter of 1998, according to the public relations firm Hobsbawm Macaulay Communications. The game was originally supposed to ship by the end of 1997, but it has been held up "to ensure completion of essential quality evaluation and testing procedures."
The game was written and designed by Douglas Adams, although a novelization of the product was penned by Terry Jones of Monty Python fame. According to Hobsbawm, PC Gamer has said Titanic "puts even Riven to shame." More information is available on the Starship Titanic Web site.
1:14 pm ET, 14-Oct-97
Jet Car Breaks Sound Barrier
A British jet-powered car became the first land vehicle to break the sound barrier yesterday when it reached 765.168 miles per hour on Nevada's Black Rock Desert. The vehicle, called the Thrust SuperSonic, was driven by Royal Air Force pilot Andy Green, who broke his own previous land-speed record of 714 miles per hour.
Green's feat came on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the first supersonic air flight, which was made by Chuck Yeager on Oct. 14, 1947. The Banzai Institute, which also attempted to break the sound barrier with a jet car in the film Buckaroo Banzai, has not issued a statement on Green's accomplishment.
7:55 pm ET, 13-Oct-97
Gillian Anderson To Receive Golden Wish
Gillian Anderson, best known to SF fans as FBI Agent Dana Scully on The X-Files, will receive the Starlight Children's Foundation's Golden Wish Award during a gala ceremony on Nov. 1. Anderson is being honored for her work on behalf of the foundation, which grants the wishes of seriously ill children.
Kristen Johnston, who plays Sally Solomon on NBC's hit SF sitcom Third Rock from the Sun, will host the ceremony. The gala, called "Carnival of Dreams," is the foundation's major source of "wish generating" revenue.
2:32 pm ET, 13-Oct-97
Controversial Cassini Launch Delayed By Weather
NASA canceled today's planned launch of the Cassini planetary probe due to hazardous wind conditions at the Cape Canaveral, Fla., liftoff site. Officials said they will reschedule the launch of the $3.4 billion mission to Saturn for Wednesday, Oct. 15, at the earliest.
Protesters have opposed the launch for fear that something could go wrong either during liftoff or during Cassini's planned 1999 "slingshot" orbit around Earth, causing the 72 pounds of plutonium on board to be released into Earth's atmosphere. However, NASA officials have said there is little danger that the plutonium would be inadvertently released, even during a crash, and last week a federal judge denied an injunction by an environmental attorney to halt the launch.
NASA officials maintain the plutonium is necessary to power the probe, which will spend seven years in transit before settling into orbit around Saturn for four more years. Because Saturn is so distant from the sun, NASA has said that solar panels would not be adequate to power the craft.
12:22 pm ET, 10-Oct-97
Frakes, Spiner Sign On For Star Trek 9
Brent Spiner has reportedly signed a deal worth at least $5 million to reprise his role as Data in the next Star Trek movie, while Jonathan Frakes has agreed to direct the film, Variety reported. Signing Spiner and Frakes wraps up the last two major loose ends for the film, which is scheduled to begin shooting in March 1998.
Spiner had reportedly spurned an initial offer of $3 million, which was the same paycheck he received for his work on Star Trek: First Contact. Frakes, who will also reprise his role as Commander William Riker in the film, was considered a lock for the director's chair but had been negotiating details with Paramount for some time.
The film will be the ninth in the Star Trek franchise and the third set in The Next Generation universe. It still reportedly lacks both a title and a script.
12:19 pm ET, 10-Oct-97
Interview Child Star Joins Soldiers
Kirsten Dunst, best known to SF fans as the child star of Interview with the Vampire, has joined the cast of the Universal/DreamWorks SKG picture Small Soldiers, Variety reported. Dunst will co-star opposite Gregory Smith (Harriet the Spy), who also recently joined the cast.
The young pair will play a couple of suburban kids who become caught up in a war between artificially intelligent toy soldiers. Joe Dante will direct.
4:53 pm ET, 9-Oct-97
Levoff To Handle Sci-Fi Thursday For UPN
The United Paramount Network has named former Battlestar Galactica and Six Million Dollar Man executive John Levoff as executive producer for the network's upcoming Thursday night science fiction movie franchise. Levoff said the franchise will consist mainly of original SF movies and will give UPN a fourth night of programming.
"It will be primarily originals, although we will base pictures on books and we'll remake pictures as it becomes viable," Levoff said. "Our hope here is to create a broad range of science fiction, speculative pictures that are not dominated by the common dark view of the future. It's a very idea-driven franchise."
The as-yet-untitled Thursday night science fiction lineup could debut as early as spring 1998, Levoff said, although no launch date has been set. Levoff has had a long and impressive career in the television industry, although SF fans will probably find his stint as programming executive for ABC's Battlestar Galactica and Six Million Dollar Man most noteworthy.
3:02 pm ET, 9-Oct-97
Xena Star Lucy Lawless Engaged
Lucy Lawless, the brainy, brawny and beautiful star of Xena: Warrior Princess, is getting married. The 29-year-old Lawless announced this week that she had accepted a proposal from her long-time companion, Robert Tapert.
Tapert is the executive producer for both Xena and its companion show, Hercules. This will be the first marriage for the 42-year-old Tapert, but the second for Lawless, who is divorced from Garth Lawless. Lucy and Garth Lawless currently share custody of their nine-year-old daughter, Daisy.
Although no wedding plans have been announced, USA Today reported that Tapert and Lawless will likely exchange vows in March 1998, when Xena goes on hiatus.
11:27 am ET, 9-Oct-97
Small Soldiers Close To Signing Smith
Gregory Smith of Harriet the Spy fame is reportedly close to signing a deal to star in the upcoming DreamWorks SKG project Small Soldiers, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Soldiers is about a town used as a test market for toy soldiers imbued with artificial intelligence.
Naturally the toys malfunction, putting Smith's character on the front lines of an out-and-out Lilliputian war.
6:22 pm ET, 8-Oct-97
Writing, Not Kryptonite, Slows Superman
The much-talked-about Superman movie from director Tim Burton has run into yet another delay and now won't enter pre-production until spring 1998, Variety reports. The latest setback, which likely means the movie won't hit theaters until 1999, comes from Burton and his writing crew, who apparently need more time to finish the screenplay.
The movie was already rescheduled once when Hollywood wunderkind Kevin Smith's (Chasing Amy) initial script was rejected. So far the only major role that has been cast is that of Superman himself, which will be played by Nicolas Cage.
11:33 am ET, 8-Oct-97
Jurassic Park Dropped From DVD Plans
Amblin Entertainment has put its DVD plans on hold, which means viewers won't be watching Jurassic Park on their new home entertainment systems anytime soon. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Amblin is "indefinitely" shelving plans to release Jurassic and four other titles through its home video distributor, Universal Studios Home Video.
The other Amblin movies lost to DVD users include Back to the Future, The Flintstones, Casper and The Land Before Time.
7:03 pm ET, 7-Oct-97
Atlantis returns, Mir solves docking hitch
The space shuttle Atlantis made a safe return to Earth yesterday after a weather delay that kept it in space a day longer than anticipated. The seven-person crew ended up spending 11 days in orbit, conducting experiments, performing repairs on the ailing Russian space station Mir, and retrieving U.S. astronaut Michael Foale.
Foale had spent the last four months aboard Mir as part of a 145-day orbital stint, the second longest in U.S. history. Foale was replaced last week by U.S. astronaut David Wolf, who is also scheduled to stay aboard Mir for four months.
Wolf spent part of his first few days on Mir helping Russian cosmonauts disengage a resupply ship that had docked with the space station. The first attempt to detach the spent supply ship from Mir failed when the crew did not fully release one of 16 docking clamps, but all went well on the second try.
10:52 am ET, 7-Oct-97
Cameron, Fox Drop Terminator 3 Plans
James Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox are no longer interested in acquiring the rights to make Terminator 3, according to widely published reports. Both Fox and Cameron also confirmed that they would not be participating in an Oct. 14 bankruptcy auction that will feature a half-share of the rights for Terminator prequels, sequels and remakes, according to Variety.
Although Fox, Cameron and Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger had been negotiating the details of the third film for nine months, the project was reportedly dropped due to runaway cost projections. Fox and Cameron were also concerned about the media scrutiny the film would have been subjected to.
10:40 am ET, 7-Oct-97
Duchovny Leaving The X-Files?
If X-Files star David Duchovny has his way, the hit show, which has been filmed in Vancouver for the past five years, will be moving to Los Angeles. And if it doesn't, then Duchovny is ready to leave The X-Files behind, according to the Mr. Showbiz Web site.
Duchovny reportedly told Mr. Showbiz that he wanted to spend more time with his newlywed wife, The Naked Truth star Tea Leoni, who lives in L.A. The two have been carrying on a long-distance marriage since they exchanged vows five months ago. X-Files co-star Gillian Anderson is also interested in moving the show to L.A., Duchovny told Mr. Showbiz, but both recognize it would be a difficult proposition for series creator Chris Carter to undertake.
4:52 pm ET, 6-Oct-97
Meet The X-Fools: Mully And Scudder
Last week Parroty Interactive began shipping The X-Fools, a "paranoid paranormal CD-ROM parody" of Fox's hit television show, The X-Files. In The X-Fools, gamers take on the role of an FBI agent trainee who is under the guidance of two paranoid ex-FBI agents, Mully and Scudder.
Mully and Scudder subject players to a "deprogramming regimen" that includes interactive games, trivia and "multimedia vignettes." Players can also embark on The Conspiracy Quest, which will allow them to win prizes by solving "X-Fool-ish" password puzzles.
The X-Fools follows in the somewhat dubious footsteps of Parroty's earlier releases, the Myst parody Pyst and the Star Wars parody, Star Warped. The X-Fools costs $19.95 and is available for Windows 95, Windows 3.1 and Macintosh platforms running System 7.1 or later.
