Arthur C. Clarke's 2001 A Space Odyssey

2001 A Space Odyssey, a novel by Arthur C. Clarke, is a science fiction book packed with action, adventure and crazy twists. In this book, the outer space settings range from prehistoric earth, the moon, Saturn, and a distant galaxy that no humans have ever been to. One of the very interesting locations in this novel is the hotel in “the galaxy,” which was made by aliens to observe humans after TMA-1, a black alien-like piece of slab had sent a signal to them. It is a white, dreamlike, and anonymous old-fashioned room in a different galaxy no person has ever been to. In the corner sits a coffee table equipped with a fake dial phone. Scattered around the “white room” are ginger antique armchairs. A beige cabinet is also placed somewhere in the

Clarke, 5 astronauts, and a robot have one mission which is to go to Jupiter.

In the beginning of this novel, Dr. Heywood Floyd goes to the U.S space station to go on a top secret mission to the moon without offering any explanation to the press. He is transported to the moon and when he arrives, he is presented a black piece of slab which scientists on the moon call TMA-1. When first exposed to sunlight for the first time, TMA-1 lets out a piercing scream but operated like a normal piece of slab after that incident.

On a spaceship called Discovery One travelling to Saturn, Frank Poole and David Bowman are the only conscious people on board Discovery One, along with Hal 9000, a robot who maintains the ship and pilots the ship. The rest of the crew are in artificially induced hibernations. On the way to Saturn, Poole and Dave are told by Hal that the AE-35 unit which communicates with earth has malfunctioned. Poole goes out to fix the unit but a space pod comes ramming into him, killing him instantly. Dave, shocked that Poole had just died orders Hal to release the other astronauts out of their hibernation for backup. Hal refuses to do so but complies when Dave threatens to turn him off. Just when Dave started thawing the other astronauts out of their hibernation, the pod bay doors open which causes the inner pressure of the ship to rapidly drop. Dave barely manages to make it to the emergency chamber and survives, but the rest of the crew who were still in hibernating instantly