The novel 2001: A Space Odyssey was written between 1964 and 1968 and was published in July 1968, shortly after its film adaptation had wrapped, as I wrote in The Lost World of 2001, according to Information feedback from all sides, these two things are going on simultaneously.After watching rough footage of an early script, I often have the odd idea of ​​rewriting it—an impulsive and exhausting way of writing fiction. As a result, the book and the movie are very similar, more so than comparable examples, but there are also big differences between the two.In the novel, the Discovery spacecraft is destined for Iapetus, one of Saturn's most mysterious moons.They reached the Saturn system via Jupiter: Discovery got close to the planet, using its massive gravitational field to create a "catapult effect" that allowed it to accelerate away for the second leg of its journey.The same strategy was indeed used when the Voyager space probe was launched in 1979 to conduct a detailed survey of the giant exoplanet.

In the movie, however, Stanley Kubrick wisely avoids confusion by not arranging to spark a third-kind contact between humans and a monolith on a moon of Jupiter.Saturn did not appear at all, although since then, Douglas Zumble has performed the story of this planet with superb acting skills in his self-directed film "Silent Run". No one could have imagined that, back in the mid-sixties, the exploration of Jupiter's moons was just around the corner.Only fifteen years later, rather than waiting for the next century to dream of it, and no one could have imagined the wonders that were discovered there—although we can be fairly sure that, someday, we will discover even more. An unpredictable sight.When the book "2001" was written, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto were just a little bit of light even when viewed from the most advanced astronomical telescopes at the time, but now they They are all independent worlds, among which Io is the most volcanically active star in the entire solar system.

All things considered, however, both the film and the book foretell these discoveries well; comparing the film's Jupiter to pictures taken from space probes is fascinating.But it is clear that the source of today's creation must include the results of the 1979 discovery: Jupiter's moons are no longer uncharted territory. At the same time, a more subtle point must also be considered. The era in which the book "2001" was written fell far behind the great dividing point in human history, when Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon, we were separated from it forever.On July 20, 1969, the day Stanley Kubrick and I conceived of "good mass sci-fi" (that's his word.) Now, history and sci-fi have become inextricably alike.

Astronauts on the Apollo missions saw this film before marching to the moon.The crew of the Apollo astronauts who became the first humans to see the far side of the moon on Christmas Day 1968 told me they saw a huge black monolith. Later, there were even more mysterious examples, the most bizarre being the adventure of Apollo XIII in 1970. At the beginning, everything was going well, the astronauts were in the main control module; it was exactly like "A Space Odyssey".The astronauts were playing a Richard Strauss tune exactly as it was played in the film before the oxygen chamber exploded and the mission was cancelled, and Jack Swidgett turned to the ground controls after a momentary loss of energy. Center Report: "Houston, we're in trouble," Hal said to astronaut Frank Poole in a similar situation: "Sorry. Interrupted your show, but we're in trouble."

When the Apollo 13 mission was later made public, NASA Administrator Tom Payne gave me a copy, quoting Swidgett: "Arthur, as you said The same.” As I contemplated this sequence of events, I had a very strange feeling—indeed, I felt as if I, too, had a part in it. The other point is less serious, but no less startling.One of the film's standout shots is this one: Frank Poole races round and round in a giant centrifuge track, held in place by the "artificial gravity" that this rotation creates. Almost a decade later, the crew of the space station realized that its designers had employed similar geometric principles.Inside the space station, there is a circle of small cabins, forming a smooth circulation belt.The space station itself doesn't spin, but that doesn't stop its illustrious occupants from doing so.They discover that they can run on tracks like rats in a birdcage, and the results are almost indistinguishable from those in 2001.They reported the whole thing to the ground and said, "Stanley Kubrick should see it." And he did, because I gave him the footage. (I never got it back, Stanley's file system was a black hole.)

Another point of connection between the film and reality is the oil painting of Apollo-Soyuz cosmonaut Alex Leonov, "Side of the Moon".I first saw it in 1968, when "2001" was presented to the United Nations General Assembly as a model for the peaceful use of space.After seeing the screen, Alex pointed out to me that the beginning of the film is exactly like his drawing: the earth rises after the moon, and the sun behind the earth.Sketches of his paintings now hang on my office wall, see Chapter 12 for details. Finally, there is the thirty-fifth chapter of the book "2001" - "Approaching Iapetus".In this chapter, I characterize an Iapetus discovered by astronaut Bowman: "It is a bright, white, elliptical star about four hundred miles long and two hundred miles wide . . . Perfect symmetry...so clearly defined, it looks...as if painted." As he got closer, Bowman was convinced that "the elliptical shape of this bright moon was the result of a staring His big, hollow eyes. . . . ” Later, he noticed “a tiny black spot in the center,” which was the monolith.

Oh, and when Voyager 1 sent the first pictures of Jupiter back to Earth, they did see a well-defined white oval sphere with a few tiny black spots in the center.Carl Saga immediately sent me a copy that said meaningfully, "Thinking of you...," and I don't know whether to be relieved or disappointed that Voyager 2 didn't pursue this further. Therefore, there is no doubt that the story you are about to read is more complicated than its earlier version, the sequel, and even the movie.Where there are differences I have generally stayed consistent with the film; however, I have placed greater emphasis on maintaining continuity within the book and trying to be accurate with current state of knowledge.

Of course, the stories in this book will take place after 2001... Arthur C. Clark Colombo, Sri Lanka, January 1982