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Pop culture 2:Electric Boogaloo
Space-wise,the popular culture of the late 1970s and early 1980s was one of re-evaluation. With NASA well and truly back on its feet after the hard days following Apollo, space culture grew more relaxed. In 1977,the first Star Wars movie,A New Hope,came out. George Lucas exercised control over almost all areas of the film's production,except (notably) for casting. Mark Hamill's performance as Luke Skywalker was hailed by critics worldwide as "top-notch",as was Harrison Ford's performance as Han Solo,Carrie Fisher's as princess Leia,and Adam West's as Darth Vader (1). Two more followed, The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and Return of the Jedi in 1984. These movies sparked a fanbase that has continued since then, with eight more films (as of 2018. with three more due for release through 2022), and many novels,three TV shows,and merchandise almost beyond count.

The first half of the 1980s saw
:The 1979 film Star Trek I:The Motion Picture
:The 1980 film Stowaway to the Moon
:The 1980 film Moonraker
:The 1981 TV movie Starship Troopers
:The 1981 and 1982 films Star Trek 2:Guardian of the Past (2),Starflight,The Ark Principle,and Moon 0-2
:And in 1983 and 1984, Star Trek 3:The Voyage Home, Stellar Journey,Dominator (based on the 1981 book),Starfall (3),Starraker (4),and the lead-in to Star Trek 4:The Final Frontier

(1)-RIP Adam West

(2)-Based on an idea by Arthur C.Clarke to have the second Star Trek movie be about Klingons interfering with JFK's assassination and Kirk stopping them via the Guardian of Forever

(3)-Not the James Bond film,but based on a 1976 novel about the failed launch of a space-based solar collector

(4)-A sequel to Moonraker involving the proposed space plane of that name (Star Raker)
Star-raker

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