Chapter 21 Chapter One A Recorded Speech

The familiar tune of "Happy Birthday" travels through 700 million miles of space at the speed of light, echoing among the TV screens and instruments on the console.On Earth, the Poole family gathers unnaturally around a birthday cake and suddenly falls silent. Then old Mr. Poole said bluntly: "Well, Frank, I can't think of anything else to say at the moment. We're all thinking of you, and we wish you the happiest birthday." "Precious, dear," broke in Mrs. Poole, tearfully, "God bless you." Then there was a sound of "goodbye", and the image on the TV screen disappeared.How strange it was, thought Poole, to think that all this had happened an hour ago; by this time his family had dispersed many miles from home.But the jet lag, as annoying as it is, is also a false pleasure.Like many of his contemporaries, Poole took it for granted that he could talk to anyone on earth whenever he pleased.And now that this can't be done, he has suffered a great psychological blow.He has entered into new and distant spaces, and almost all emotional ties have been stretched beyond the broken point.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your celebration," Hal said, "but we have a problem." "What's the question?" Bowman and Poole asked in unison. "I'm having trouble maintaining contact with Earth. The trouble is with the AE-35 unit. My Predictive Failure Center reports it could fail within seventy-two hours." "Let's deal with that," Bowman replied. "Let's take a look at the optics first." "This is it, David. It's normal for now." A neat half-moon appeared on the screen, brilliant against the almost starless sky.It was covered by clouds, and no topography could be discerned.At first glance, it could easily be mistaken for Venus.

If you look at it again, it is not the case, because there is a real moon next to it, and Venus has no moon-the moon is only a quarter of the size of the earth, and it happens to be in the same cycle as the earth.It is easy to assume that these two celestial bodies have a mother-child relationship, and many astronomers did believe so, but the rocks on the moon have proved beyond doubt that the moon was never a part of the earth. "Do you know what's wrong?" Bowman asked. "It's hit and miss, I haven't been able to pinpoint it yet. Looks like it's in the AE-35 part."

"What action do you suggest?" "Better replace the spare and check it out thoroughly." "Okay—let's look at the signal output by the electronic computer." The signal appeared on the screen; at the same time, a note slipped out of the groove below the screen.Despite the variety of electronic materials, sometimes the old-fashioned print is the most convenient form of record. Bowman studied the charts for a while, and couldn't help whistling. "You should have told us," he said, "that it was a request to go outside the ship." "Sorry," Hal replied, "I thought you knew the AE-35 part was on the antenna assembly."

"I probably knew a year ago, but there are eight thousand subsidiary systems on this ship. Looks like a quick job, anyway. We just have to open a panel and put in a new part." "I don't care," Poole said.Generally, extravehicular operations are assigned to him. "I also need a change of environment, of course not from a personal perspective." "See if mission command agrees," Bowman said.He sat motionless for a few seconds, collecting his thoughts, and began dictating the telegram. "Mission Command, this is X-Ray D-1. At 20:45, the Airborne Failure Prediction Center in our 9000 computer predicted that the AE-35 component might fail within seventy-two hours. Please check your Telemetry surveillance, I suggest testing this component on your spacecraft system simulator. Also please approve our plan to conduct extravehicular operations and replace with spare AE-35 components before failure. Mission command station, this is X Optical D-1, 2103 transmissions completed."

Through years of practice, Bowman could switch to this jargon—some have dubbed it "technical language"—and return to plain language at any time without getting stuck in the gears of his mind's gearbox.Now there is nothing to do but wait for the approval to come. Approval can take up to two hours at the fastest, as the signal travels back and forth through the orbits of Jupiter and Mars. When the approval came, Bowman was trying to beat Hal at a game of geometry stored in his memory, but it was not going well. X-Ray D-1, this is Mission Command, I've received 2103 calls from you.We are testing the telemetry intelligence on our mission simulator, the results will be announced later.

"I agree with you to carry out extravehicular operations, and replace them with spare AE-35 parts in case of possible failure. We are developing a testing procedure for your failed parts." The mission commander returned to plain English when he was done with business: "It's a pity you're in trouble and we don't want to add to your troubles. But we have a public outreach department here if it's convenient before EVAs Can you please make a short taped speech for the communiqué, outlining the situation and explaining the function of the AE-35. Try to make it as reassuring as possible. Of course we can do it for you - but use yourselves Words are more convincing. I hope this will not disturb your social life too much. X-ray D-1, I am the mission command station, and the transmission of 2155 is over."

Bowman couldn't help smiling at the request.There are times when Earth exhibits a mindless and methodless approach that is incomprehensible.What else do you want to "make people feel at ease", hum! Poole came to Bowman after waking up, and together they spent ten minutes drafting and revising the call back.In the early stages of the mission, the various press units demanded countless conversations, discussions—almost anything if they asked.But as the weeks passed without incident and the time difference increased from a few minutes to more than an hour, the interest gradually waned.Since the exciting moment of the flyby of Jupiter more than a month ago, they have made only three or four recordings for the communiqué.

"Mission Command, this is X-Ray D-1. The statement you requested for release reads: "A minor technical issue occurred today.Our Hal 9000 computer predicts AE-35 component failure. "It's a small but important part of the communication system. It keeps our main antenna pointed at the Earth to within a few thousandths of a degree. This accuracy is necessary because from our current over seven billion Miles away, the Earth is only a fairly faint planet, and our very thin radio beams are easily misaligned. "The antennas keep track of the earth all the time, relying entirely on the motors controlled by the central computer. However, those motors are instructed through the AE-35 components. You can compare it to the nerve center of the human body, through which the brain's instructions are transmitted to the The muscles of the extremities. If the nerves don't carry the correct signals, the extremities fail. In our current case, a malfunction of the AE-35 component can cause the antenna to fumble randomly.

This is a common problem with space explorers in the last century.They often reach other planets, but cannot send back any information, because their antennas cannot find the earth. "We don't yet know the nature of the failure, but it's not serious at all, and there's no need to panic. We have two spare AE-35s, each with an estimated service life of up to twenty years—so, at this time The chances of a second plane failing in the middle of a mission are extremely slim. Also, if we can diagnose the cause of this malfunction, we might be able to fix the first plane. "Frank Poole is exceptionally good at the job, swapping spare parts for extravehicular work back for failed ones. He'll also take the opportunity to inspect the hull and fix tiny little things that don't require extravehicular work for it. Impact scars.

"Aside from this one hiccup, the mission continued to run smoothly and will continue as such. "Mission Command, this is X-Ray D-1, 2104 transmission is over."