A black monolith is found on the moon. It can only be linked to a signal coming from Jupiter, otherwise it remains an enigma. Driven by its quest for knowledge, mankind sends up a manned space shuttle to Jupiter. Equipped with the most advanced computer system called HAL 9000, the small crew ventures into the spheres of the unknown. Like the eye of God, HAL watches over the shuttle’s status, the mission’s progress, as well as the group itself. However, this technological instrument soon becomes the crew’s very downfall: HAL begins to decide over their life and death.
Similarly to the black monolith, Stanley Kubrick’s cult film 2001: A Space Odyssey stands as a silent and overwhelming monument. To this day, its depiction of space’s sterile silence and the machine’s lifeless bleakness shapes our understanding of space travel. However, the journey to Jupiter is much more than the advancement into new spheres by means of technological achievements – it is also a symbolic exploration and existential transformation of mankind. For in the end, to wonder about space means to wonder about ourselves. And despite all technology and scientific progress, we stand like children, still marveling, at the mysteries of life.
Nico Uebersax, translated by Alicia Schümperli
