Crewman Poole (left) naps as Bowman checks condition of three
hibernating astronauts locked in their
individual hibernaculums.
hostile towards us, or will they think that we are so primitive
that they will pass us by and look elsewhere for other beings
more nearly equal to them? If we get a signal from outer
space, what should we do about it? Should we answer it
and invite visitors, or should we ignore it and continue to
live in the Universe as if we are alone? Or have we already
been visited? Has some extraterrestrial civilization left
artefacts for us to find when we get to the moon or the
planet Mars? If we find life in the Universe-perhaps beings
more intelligent than ourselves-what will we come to think