This year, an estimated six million Americans lined up hand in hand (more or less) across the country to raise money for the homeless. A news anchor named Oprah Winfrey presented her new talk show. In London, a musical based on Gaston Leroux's 1909 gothic horror novel. Phantom of the Opera took its first steps toward becoming the longest-running musical in Broadway history. Meanwhile, Top shooter and Ferris Bueller vied for dominance at the theatrical box office, while Madonna, Bon Jovi and Whitney Houston dominated radio.
But it was also a year of scientific and technological innovations, milestones and landmarks that literally changed the way we live, communicate and see the world (and beyond).
It was 1986. And these are the moments that really changed everything.
1. The space race continues
The quest to send a manned mission to the Moon began in the 1960s, but the race to go further and stay on the Moon longer still had a lot of momentum even in the 1980s. The United States, Soviet Union and Japan took incredible steps forward in 1986, starting with a NASA project. Voyager 2. Originally launched in 1977, Voyager 2 will become the first man-made object to fly past Uranus in 1986, on its way to becoming the only spacecraft to study all four of the solar system's giant planets – Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus – at close range.
That same year, the Soviet Union began construction of a modular space station in orbit called World (from the Russian word “mir”, which can also mean “community”). It will be the longest-lasting and most complex space station to date, and in the coming years will host a total of 105 astronauts from 11 different nationalities, including Russian, French, Austrian, German and British scientists. His goal was to better understand the challenges and obstacles to permanent life in space.
Finally, in 1986, a Japanese spacecraft appeared. Suisei, With your UV imaging system and solar wind instruments with you, get close enough to the year. another great pop culture phenomenonHalley's Comet– make some of the first significant discoveries of a mysterious galactic phenomenon that has returned after 76 years. Suisei was able to document Halley's rotation using ultraviolet images, measuring changes in the rate of water release, and observing ions coming from the comet being captured by Earth's magnetosphere.
2. Travel closer to home
Back on Earth, with less galactic tilt airplane have achieved great success. As the year drew to a close, on December 23, 1986, the plane known as the Rutan Voyager (named after one of the plane's pilots and designers, brothers Dick and Burt Rutan), made the first nonstop flight around the world without refueling.
He completed the task in just nine days, along with Dick Rutan and co-pilot Gina Yeager (interesting, No associated with another famous aviator, Chuck Yeager), at the helm. Not only was the mission impressive, but it also helped prove the durability and utility of lightweight composite materials (carbon fiber, epoxy) that would further advance advances in everything from luxury cars to sports equipment.
3. Birth of the laptop
On April 2, 1986, IBM introduced the IBM PC Convertible, the first commercially available laptop.
Although the PC Convertible weighed about 13 pounds and was about as portable as a small suitcase, it was nonetheless an important step in the evolution of the home computer. What once took up an entire room has become something that could fit on your desk and can now be taken with you with relative ease.
Just two years earlier, the first commercially available pocket-sized handheld phone had been introduced, and while it, like the convertible PC, didn't radically change the way we work and communicate overnight, they laid the foundation for the laptops and smartphones we can't live without today.
4. The Science of the Silver Screen
Not only were 1986 a slew of blockbusters that cemented their legacies as cultural touchstones and enduring cult favorites, but some of them also slowly pushed boundaries in ways that completely changed the art form forever. And one of them was Jim Henson. Labyrinth. Yes, Labyrintha weird PG-rated 1986 fantasy film that famously paired goblin dolls with rock star David Bowie (who wore questionable PG-13 sweatpants).
It turns out that the snowy owl flying over the opening credits was the first example of a realistic computer-generated animal. It wasn't quite Jurassic Park for now, but the seeds have been sown.
Meanwhile, in the Canada Pavilion at the Expo 86 World's Fair in Vancouver, British Columbia, spectators watched a specially produced film called Transitions. What they didn't know at the time was that it was the first-ever full-color 3D IMAX film. Between this and Labyrinthwe can say that the way Avatar started in 1986.
Yes, and director George Lucas was getting divorced. This is not science, but the triumphant victory took place three years ago. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and the financial strain of the breakdown of his marriage coupled with the box office explosion of his 1986 film. Howard the Duck (an MCU movie before it was cool… or successful) forced him to sell Lucasfilm's computer animation division. Buyer? Steve Jobs. The company became known as Pixar and its first short film. Luxo Jr. (starring the sentient table lamp that remains part of the Pixar logo to this day), would become the first CGI film to be nominated for an Academy Award, and set Pixar on the path to revolutionizing animated film.
5. Games lay the foundation
Primitive forms of home video games began to lay the groundwork in the late '70s, but the widespread US launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986 (following its release in test markets the year before) took things to a new level.
Although the system was revolutionary in terms of hardware, it was 1986 that saw the early stages of true video game fanaticism emerge and the acceptance of video games as an entertainment medium alongside films, television and music in a way that had not previously been seen. Yes, Pac-Man was a pop culture phenomenon with breakfast cereal and even a new hit song, but the advent of the NES and, more importantly, the debut of games like The Legend of Zelda, Metroid And Dragon Quest in 1986, games with more expansive play styles and deeper lore were introduced. These weren't the same repetitive games designed to keep you pumping coins into an arcade machine, they were an introduction to what would eventually evolve into RPGs and open world gameplay.
6. Progress is not without its challenges.
Unfortunately, not every world-changing moment in 1986 was positive. That year, science witnessed two great disasters, and their resonance is still felt today.
The first occurred on January 28, 1986, when millions of people watched a NASA speech live on television. Challenger space shuttle exploded a few seconds after launch. More than just a shuttle launch Challenger attracted worldwide attention because one of its passengers was a civilian schoolteacher named Christa McAuliffe. While the world mourned, NASA investigated the tragic accident and not only discovered technical explanations that would change their processes and equipment (it turned out that the rubber seals on the rocket boosters had deteriorated due to the extreme cold temperatures of that day), but would also update their safety and liability protocols to ensure future successful launches.
Explosion of the space shuttle Challenger (1986)
Several months later, in April 1986, a sudden power surge during testing of the reactor systems caused a meltdown of the reactor. Chernobyl Nuclear power plant in Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union). The fallout affected large areas of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, and the 30 km (about 18 miles) area around the plant is still uninhabited.
Following this, organizations such as the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) worked to identify the plant's weaknesses and improve and enhance the design safety of the reactors involved. Significant work has also been done to increase emphasis on operational safety and regulatory oversight, improve shutdown mechanisms, and increase general safety awareness among nuclear reactor personnel.
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