'Discovery 1', more often referred to as just 'Discovery', was a manned American spacecraft to Jupiter. The mission was to be a one-way trip; the crew would be picked up after the mission by a sister ship, Discovery 2, which was never completed due to the deaths of all but one of the crew of Discovery One. The only survivor, David Bowman, disappeared into the Jupiter Monolith shortly after arrival at Jupiter.
Discovery One was named after Captain Robert Scott's ship, Discovery, launched in 1901.
Description
Discovery is 140 m long, and propelled by a nuclear-powered magnetoplasmadynamic drive. 80 m of structure separate the reactor from the spherical crew habitation module, which consists of a pod bay, a centrifuge (which generated about one-sixth g), and the control deck, and also the onboard HAL 9000 computer's logistics and memory center, which is off-limits to the crew (however, Bowman enters it to shut off Hal, regardless).
Originally, the mission was to simply observe and study Jupiter. However, the craft was repurposed to investigate the mysterious radio signal sent by the Tycho Monolith to Saturn, employing a "perturbation maneuver" involving a Jupiter gravity-assist on the way.
The crew of Discovery consisted of five men, but three of them (Hunter, Whitehead and Kaminsky) were put into cryogenic hibernation before departure from Earth. This was done to make sure the ship's supplies of food and air would last as long as possible, since the latter three astronauts would only be needed when the ship reached Jupiter.
Appearances
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- 2010: Odyssey Two
- 2061: Odyssey Three (mentioned only)
- 3001: The Final Odyssey (mentioned only)
Gallery
Frank Poole jogging in Discovery's centrifuge.