Chapter 32 Chapter 4 Approaching Iapetus

Discovery was moving more and more slowly toward its inevitable rendezvous with Iapetus; Bowman could not help but notice an uncomfortable feeling as Iapetus grew larger. In his conversations—or, rather, in his non-stop comments—he never mentioned this feeling to Mission Control, so as not to appear as if he was already delusional. Or he had been delusional; for he had convinced himself to a great extent that the elliptical point of light against the dark background of the satellite was a huge, hollow eye, staring at him as he approached.There were no eyeballs in those eyes, because he couldn't see anything in that blankness.

Later, the spacecraft was fifty thousand miles away, and Iapetus appeared to be twice the size of the Earth's moon. Only then did Bowman notice the small black spot in the center of the ellipse.But now he had no time to observe carefully; he had to start the operation near the end. Discovery's main thrusters drain for the last time.Dying atoms cast their incandescent fury on the moons of Saturn for the last time.For David Bowman, the jet engine's croon and increased thrust elicited a wave of pride -- and a wave of sadness.These remarkable engines get the job done, error-free and efficient.

On them the spacecraft traveled from Earth to Jupiter and Saturn; and now they are making their last run. When Discovery empties its fuel tanks, it will be as helpless and lifeless as any comet or asteroid, a weak captive of gravity.Even when a rescue ship arrives in a few years, it won't make economic sense to refuel it and let it struggle to fly back to Earth.It will remain in orbit permanently, a memento of early interstellar exploration. The distance of thousands of miles shortened to a few hundred miles, and then the needle on the fuel gauge also quickly turned to zero.In front of the dashboard of the console, Bowman's eyes flicked anxiously from side to side, watching the situation change, watching the charts he had to refer to in order to make timely decisions.It would be such a disappointment if we live to this day and cannot rendezvous with Iapetus due to the lack of a few catties of fuel...

The whistling sound of the jet thrusters disappeared, the main thrusters stopped, and only the small nozzles continued to gently push the "Discovery" into orbit.Iapetus now filled the sky like a crescent moon; until now Bowman had regarded it as an insignificant object--and it was indeed insignificant compared with Saturn.At this time, Iapetus towered frighteningly above the front and looked extremely huge—like a cosmic sledgehammer about to hit the "Discovery", which looked like a walnut. Iapetus approached so slowly that it seemed to stand still, so it was impossible to tell when it changed from a celestial body to a landscape only fifty miles below.

The small nozzle dutifully gave one last push, then shut off permanently.The spacecraft had entered its final orbit, making one revolution every three hours at a speed of only eight hundred miles per hour—a speed sufficient in this weak gravitational field. Discovery became a moon of Saturn. "I'm now on the day side again, as I reported the last time I turned around. There seem to be only two types of surface material in this place. The black one looks charred, almost like charcoal, and from a telescope The texture is also like charcoal, as I judged. To tell the truth, it reminds me quite a bit of burnt bread...

"White, I can't explain it yet. It has absolutely definite boundaries and its surface is not visible. It may even be liquid - the surface remains fairly level. I don't know what you guys are sending back from me The impression you get in the video, but if you think of it as an ocean of frozen milk, you've got the right concept. "It might even be some kind of heavy gas - no, I don't think that's possible. Sometimes I feel like it's moving, very slowly; but I'm not at all sure"... I'm in the white zone again In the sky, this is the third turn.This time, I wanted to be able to get close to the marker I found in the center of it when I first entered orbit.If my calculations are right, I shouldn't be more than fifty miles from it--whatever it is. "

"... yes, there is indeed something ahead, exactly where I calculated it. It's already on the horizon—and Saturn is on the horizon, almost at the same phase in the sky. I'll have to use the telescope now ... "Hey!--it looks like a building--it's all black--not easy to see. There are no windows, and no other surface markings. It's just one big upright plate that's visible from such a distance. See, it must be at least a mile high. It reminds me of—yes! Like the one you found on the moon! It's the big brother of TMA-1!"