The SAL 9000 is a supercomputer, created and used by Dr. Chandra, and introduced in Arthur C. Clarke’s 2010: Odyssey Two, and its 1984 film adaption. It was one of three 9000 series computers developed by the United States.
In 2010: The Year We Make Contact, SAL is identified as the twin sister of the HAL 9000, distinguished by the blue tinge in her optic lens, compared to HAL's which is red. In the film, SAL is voiced by actress Candice Bergen, who was credited as "Olga Mallsnerd".
2001: A Space Odyssey[]
SAL was used as the earth-bound mission simulator for the spaceship Discovery on its journey to Jupiter. In the film version of 2001, HAL predicted a failure of the AE-35 antenna, and Discovery commander David Bowman and Frank Poole retrieved and replaced the AE-35 and examined the original only to find nothing wrong with the system. When Bowman and Poole messaged their situation and HAL's prediction to Mission Control, they responded saying that HAL was in error predicting the fault; this conclusion was based on SAL's findings, though she was not mentioned by name.
2010: Odyssey Two/The Year We Make Contact[]
In the film adaptation of 2010, SAL makes her screen debut, though she appears in only one scene with Dr. Chandra, who had spent a great deal of time wondering why HAL had malfunctioned. In 2001, HAL had killed everyone on board Discovery except for Bowman, who had managed to disable HAL before his own mysterious disappearance.
After Chandra was selected by Dr. Heywood Floyd to participate in the joint U.S./Soviet expedition to Jupiter and find out what happened on Discovery, Chandra decided he wanted to do an experiment, and disconnect many of the same higher functions on SAL that Bowman had disconnected on HAL, and then reconnect them to see what effects HAL might experience once he is revived. Right before they begin the experiment, SAL asks Dr. Chandra, "Will I dream?" Chandra answers her saying that all intelligent beings dream, adding, "Perhaps you'll dream of HAL, just as I often do." HAL echoes the same question right before Discovery boosts Leonov's take off for home (which Chandra admits to HAL could result in his and Discovery's destruction), to which Chandra emotionally responds, "I don't know."
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