Spacecraft of the Space Odyssey series

Numerous fictional spacecraft are seen and mentioned in the Space Odyssey series.

Aries 1b

The Aries Ib is a spacecraft seen in the film and mentioned in the novel "". It is a ball shaped lunar lander built for providing regular passenger commuting between Earth's orbit and the Moon, just as the Orion III (both operated by Pan Am) provided for travel between the Earth and Space Station V. It is nuclear powered, the high performance of its engines allowing it to make a fast transfer to the moon (at about one day, compared to three days which were necessary for Apollo). It also carries a retractable landing gear.

Orion III

The Orion III is a passenger spaceplane seen in the movie "" and mentioned in the novel of the . It is a two-stage space shuttle launched on a reusable winged booster. It is equipped with aerospike rocket engines and jet engines for atmospheric flight. Pan American World Airways operates the Orion III, just as it operates the Aries Ib. In early stages of planning for the film, the spaceplane's engines on the back were designed to break away from the passenger section of the plane. [Bizony, Piers (2001). 2001 Filming the Future. London: Sidgwick and Jackson. ISBN 1-85410-706-2.] In both the film and the novel, Heywood Floyd rides an Orion III on a special flight to Space Station V en route to the Moon.

Moonbus

The "Moonbus" is a spacecraft from the movie . They are small rocket craft used for quick transportation of men and cargo around the surface of the Moon. In the novel "", the Moonbus is described as being a land-bound craft using tracks to move around. Although, it is mentioned it has rockets to clear craters.

pace Station V

Space Station V is a space station seen in the movie '. It is a large, international, rotating wheel space station used as a transfer point from Low Earth orbit to the moon and other planets. It also functions as an orbital hotel, mostly operated by Hilton Hotels. Rotation of the station provides artificial gravity for people aboard the station. The station contains two docking bays for docking spacecraft and is placed on its rotational axis at the opposite sides of the construction. By the time of events depicted in the "2001: A Space Odyssey" it is still under construction; a second wheel section is being added. An analogous spacecraft, called Space Station One, is describe in the novel '.

The rotating wheel depicted in the movie traces its lineage back to the wheeled space stations proposed by Wernher von Braun, albeit with a crisper aesthetic sense.Fact|date=November 2007 The studio model was reported to be eight feet wide (Bizony) or six feet wide (Agel), and stuffed with tiny lights behind the windows. Due to its large size and spidery structure, the model always seemed in danger of breaking apart. [ [http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/S/space_station.html space station ] ] [http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/news/2001/news-homehome.asp]

References

Technical Content and Spacecraft Design References for the 2001

F.I. Ordway, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Spaceflight,Vol. 12, No. 3, Mar. 1970, pp. 110-117.(Publisher: The British Interplanetary Society)

F.I. Ordway,Part B: 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY IN RETROSPECT,Frederick I Ordway, III Volume 5, American Astronautical Society History Series SCIENCE FICTION AND SPACE FUTURES: PAST AND PRESENT, Edited by Eugene M. Emme, 1982, pages 47 - 105. (ISBN 0-87703-172-X) (ISBN 0-87703-173-8). A detailed account of development and filming of 2001: A Space Odyssey by its technical adviser.

Jack Hagerty and Jon C. Rogers,Spaceship Handbook: Rocket and Spacecraft Designs of the 20th Century,ARA Press,Published 2001,pages 322-351,ISBN 097076040X.

"'Realizing 2001: A Space Odyssey: PilotedSpherical Torus Nuclear Fusion PropulsionNASA/TM-2005-213559"'March 2005AIAA-2001-3805"'