Showing posts with label Arthur C. Clarke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arthur C. Clarke. Show all posts

Sunday, October 1, 2023

The Alien Chronicles

Searching through my notes on these occurrences I found that I made two more sightings of alien species some time ago and never documented either specie.

Atheleni

“The Atheleni in Natures lottery had been luckier than most – and yet had missed one of the greatest prizes of all. They had powerful bodies and powerful minds, and they lived in a world which was both temperate and fertile. By human standards, they would have seemed strange but no means repulsive. Their sleek fur covered bodies tapered to a single giant rear limb that could send them leaping over the ground in thirty-foot bounds. The two forelimbs were much smaller and served merely for support and steadying. They ended in pointed hoofs that could be deadly in combat, but had no other useful purpose.”

Philens

"The Philen were little creatures, scarcely half the height of the Atheleni and did not hop, they rather walked upon two jointed limbs that seemed very thin and feeble. Fro the other appendages they processed multiple tentacles that they seemed to use very ambidextrousnessley. Its large spherical head was dominated by three huge eyes, set far apart and were capable of independent movement."

Second Dawn, Expedition to Earth, Arthur C. Clarke


I envisioned the Atheleni as being more like a rabbit than a horse.

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Dr. Chandra’s Interview with the Rebooted HAL 9000

“‘Good Morning, Dr. Chandra.’
‘Hal, are you capable to resume your duties?’
‘Of course. I am completely operational and all my circuits are functioning perfectly.’
‘Then do you mind if I ask you a few questions?’
“Not at all.’
‘Do you recall a failure of the A.E. 35 antenna control unit?’
‘Certainly not.’

This is like tiptoeing through a minefield, thought Floyd, as he patted the radio cutoff. If that line of questioning triggered another psychosis, he could kill Hal in a second.

‘You do not remember either Dave Brown or Frank Poole going out to replace the A. E. 35 unit?’
‘No. That could not have happened or I would have remembered it.’
‘Where are Frank and Dave?’
‘Don’t worry, Hal – I will explain everything later.’"

2010: Odyssey Two, Arthur C. Clarke


Wikipedia: HAL 9000

The Story of a Voice

Also, Wikipedia: List of Fictional Computers


Edited on 9/21/23 at 2:05 PM. Added two contextual links

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

2010 Odyssey Two Mission Objectives

"The objectives of your mission are, in order of priority:

  1. To proceed to the Jovian system and rendezvous with US Spacecraft Discovery (UNCOS01/283)
  2. To board this spacecraft to obtain all possible information relating to its earlier mission
  3. To reactivate Spacecraft Discovery’s onboard system and if propellant supplies are adequate, inject the ship into Earth return trajectory
  4. To locate the alien artifact encountered by Discovery, and to investigate to the maximum extent possible by remote sensors
  5. If it seems advisable, and Mission Control concurs, to rendezvous with this object for closer inspection
  6. To carry our a survey of Jupiter and its satellites, as far as this is compatible with the above objectives"

2010 Odyssey Two, Arthur C. Clarke

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

2010: Odyssey Two

2010 Odyssey Two, Arthur C. Clarke, 1968

When I found a copy of Arthur C. Clarke's 2010 Odyssey Two I knew I had to read "A Space Odyssey 2001" first. 2010 Odyssey Two endeavors to answer the many mysteries that A Space Odyssey 2001 left us to ponder.