In this sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), a joint American-Soviet expedition is sent to Jupiter to discover what went wrong with the U.S.S. Discovery against a backdrop of growing global tensions. Amongst the mysteries the expedition must explain, are the appearance of a huge black monolith in Jupiter's orbit and the fate of H.A.L.; the Discovery's A.I. computer. Based on the novel by Arthur C. Clarke.