AE-35 unit

The AE-35 unit is a parabolic antenna array installed on the interplanetary space vessel Discovery One. In the year 2001, the Discovery One 's onboard computer system, the HAL 9000 erroneously reported to its command crew, Dave Bowman and Frank Poole that the AE-35 unit was malfunctioning and would cease functioning within seventy-two hours. Bowman and Poole took an EVA pod outside the ship to examine it, but determined that the AE-35 was operating at 100% efficiency. This meant that the HAL 9000 was incorrect and was perhaps experiencing its own systems failure. HAL insisted that its data was accurate and Doctor Poole took a spare AE-35 unit out to replace the existing one. HAL understood that any fallibility on part of the computer would result in shutdown. Gifted with self-awareness, the HAL 9000 was unwilling to risk would in effect be its own demise, so it took command of Poole's EVA pod and pushed it towards him. The pod severed Poole's oxygen hose and he was set adrift in space.