of ourselves, our problems and our struggles, all of which take place on an obscure rocky planet not far from one of billions of average stars?  For nearly five years, ever since he finished making Dr- Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick has been fascinated by the theme of extraterrestrial life and how the challenges it poses could be translated into a film that was both exciting to see, scrupulously accurate from the scientific point of view, and as beautiful as modern cinematic art could make it. Science fiction and science Astronaut Poole, en route to Jupiter, talks via satellite with his Earthbound parents while receiving an ultra- violet sun lamp treatment to keep fit.