Book - 2001: The Lost Science

[lunadude]

2001: The Lost Science

Available May 2012, from Apogee Prime!
www.apogeeprime.com/prime/bookpages/9781926837192.html



Adam Johnson, aka AJA Models), is also curator of the Frederick I. Ordway III Collection (science advisor to 2001 A Space Odyssey). He has put together a book containing some of the archives of once-thought lost materials from "2001 A Space Odyssey". Much of the images in the book, have never been published.

I am VERY excited.

[thx11138]

The highlight of this year's WonderFest for all 2001 fans was the release of Adam Johnson's new book, "2001: The Lost Science". This large-format book covers the archives of 2001 science advisor Fredrick Ordway, which Adam now curates at the NASA center in Huntsville, Alabama. Adam gave a 90 minute presentation, followed by a book signing. I could go on and on about the crystal-clear photographs of the 2001 sets, sharp enough in many instances to display the lettering on instrument panel buttons. It turns out that Ordway along with Harry Lange and Tony Masters designed all of the spacecraft as if they were to be functional. All of the flight controls are arranged in logical groups: fuel status, engines, life support, telecom, etc. Just amazing to see the level of detail. Most of the panels were never filmed. Speaking of unfilmed work, every compartment in the spare parts corridor had an actual removable bin behind it. The manipulator arms of the EVA Pod were motorized! All these years I had thought they were actuated by stage hands, so to speak. There is a photo of servo's, cables and electrical wires packed into the Pod.

The photographs of the orbiting satellites are amazingly clear and will be of great benefit to anyone interested in building them. There is a lot of background information regarding how the satellites function. Every instrument panel in the centrifuge, and most in the command module, are shown in high resolution photography. There are many, many blueprints of ship interiors and exteriors. Most are new to me. Just put down the $50 and get the book... I guarantee that you won't be disappointed. The Pod Bay, workbench, emergency airlock, "Athena" room (the room behind the glass window just off the pod bay), and spare parts area blueprints are included, along with several interesting preliminary blueprints that include a machine shop. There are photo's of two hand basins in the centrifuge, one on each side, one with a shower, the other with a bathroom adjacent. And they aren't just pretty pictures... the accompanying text offers background information gleaned from Ordway and other sources. The science geeks among us will absolutely love the section on Discovery's Cavradyne nuclear reactor engine. It explains, for example, what's in those boxes between the engines, and the spherical tanks that ring the engine nozzles, and what's inside that massive propulsion unit. The book explains the identity of various greeblies in the Pod Bay, such as those bottles behind the workbench, and the strange tanks hanging from the ceiling. Highly detailed blueprints of two of the Command Module instrument panels actually show the point sizes of Futura Bold LetraSet press-on text (8, 10 and 12), the colors of perspex (acrylic) used to top the buttons (still sold today under the same numbers!), which buttons are real ("Practical") and which ones are fake. The width of the routed panel lines, side profile of the buttons, and design of the bar meters is included.

There are prototype sketches of the EVA Pod, including two variants with two instead of four manipulator arms, and two headlights instead of four. There are detailed interior panel photo's that are clear enough to read the button text on some. There are clear shots of the poorly-documented overhead panel, the port triangular panel and the manipulator hand controllers. There are gorgeous black and white photo's of Aries exterior. There are new blueprints of the command deck and passenger level, complete with legible measurements.
There are several new photo's of Orion interior and exterior, including sharp photo's of the underside, which I've never seen before. The moon bus section, though incomplete due to the late arrival of this part of the material from Ordway's archive, includes a high detail of the map cabinet, on the port side (the starboard map cabinet can be vaguely seen through the shadows on the blu-ray). There is an early perspective drawing of the instrument panel that has two hand controllers. There are several exterior shots in very high resolution. The functions of the various object on the aft surface of the bus are explained (there is, in fact, a pull-out ramp under the rear door).

There is a section on the Discovery space suit with detailed photo's of the front pack and the blueprint for the forearm button panel.

The Dawn of Man sequence is not covered.

There is a section at the end of the book that covers the model shops. There are absolutely breathtaking production photo's of the miniatures under construction. The machined aluminum components of the Space Station and EVA Pod models, which were painted white in the film, just have to be seen to be believed. The blueprints of the screen-used HAL faceplate, complete with the number and spacing of the speaker grille holes, and a 1:1 print of an actual HAL decal, made by Airfix, from Ordway's personal collection, is included, in the actual color.

The DVD includes a large number of PDF files concerning the engineering behind interplanetary spaceflight, from NASA and contractors, from the 1960's and 1970's (great material for model builders and physics geeks). There is a new documentary with comments by Clarke, Johnson, Trumbull, Ordway and others. There are other video's that have appeared elsewhere.

[lunadude]

Thanks so much, for the review. I've got mine ordered.

[lunadude]

This book is amazing! Go hand this man your money, right now.

The book is about the size of a Life magazine. The DVD has great stuff, too.

[Model Man]

As it's my B-Day, my Mom just 'bought' it for me a few mins ago. She'll be very happy to know this is where the cash went. Can't wait to get it! Thanks for that review, thx11138! I'll make a video at some point.

[Model Man]

This took me far too long to get to.
What an incredible book!

[lunadude]

Great video review, Tom! Did you get the DVD, too?

[Model Man]

I did, but months later still haven't watched it!

[lunadude]

Great stuff on the DVD. Arthur C. Clarke's alien cat trick was a total win.