Jupiter Five

This article is about the 1953 short story. For the moon of Jupiter, see Amalthea (moon). For the aeroplane, see Bristol Jupiter.

Short story by Arthur C. Clarke

"Jupiter Five"

Short story by Arthur C. Clarke
Country| United Kingdom
Language| English
Genre(s)| Science fiction
Publication
Published in| If
Publication date| May 1953

"Jupiter Five" is a science fiction short story by British writer Arthur C. Clarke, first published in the magazine If in May 1953.[1] It reappeared in Clarke's collection of short stories in 1956,[1] and concerns the detection and exploration of an ancient spaceship from outside the Solar System.

## Plot summary

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Professor Forster, a scientist on an expedition with the spacecraft Arnold Toynbee, discovers that Jupiter V, the innermost satellite of Jupiter, is actually a spacecraft from "Culture X", an ancient race of reptiles from outside the Solar System. Culture X coexisted with insectoid Martians and settled the smaller rocky planets and moons throughout the Solar System, except for Earth's Moon. Jupiter V is a spherical metal vehicle with a diameter of 30 kilometers, containing an art gallery with millions of exhibits. One exhibit depicts a member of Culture X, whom Forster dubs "The Ambassador."

It becomes clear that "The Ambassador" was explicitly intended for Mankind. Culture X predicted that intelligent life would develop on Earth and eventually achieve space flight; the statue is a message of greeting and goodwill spanning the time between its creators' extinction and the arrival of space travelers from Earth.

Randolph Mays, a science writer, arrives with his pilot and secretary. Forster exploits a loophole in space law and claims salvage rights to Jupiter V in the name of the World Science Organization. Mays attempts to steal "The Ambassador" and other art objects, but Forster turns Mays' companions against him, forcing him to return the stolen items.[2]

## Reception

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According to David N. Samuelson, "Jupiter Five" is one of Clarke's "few attempts at melodrama", along with "Breaking Strain" (1949) and "Guardian Angel" (1950).[3] Samuelson states that it represents one of the few instances in which Clarke overcame his "reluctance to tell traditional action-adventure story in the pulp tradition" due to "his literary allegiances and a desire to downplay the thoughtless romanticism evident in such tales of derring-do".[3] Samuelson also suggests the work lacks significant literary importance.[3]

## Influence

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The idea of an artifact left by a spacefaring alien race for humans to discover after achieving space flight also appeared in "The Sentinel", a 1948 short story by Clarke (published 1951) about the discovery of an ancient artifact on the Moon. It served as the basis for 2001: A Space Odyssey, the 1968 novel and film Clarke developed with director Stanley Kubrick. However, the artifacts in "Sentinel" and "Odyssey" are speculated on (in "Sentinel") or explicitly stated (in the novel version of "Odyssey") as warnings that humans were in space.

Early drafts of the 2001 novel placed the Star Gate on Jupiter's moon Jupiter V instead of Iapetus as in the final version, revealing that Jupiter V had been artificially sculpted and placed into its orbit by the builders of the Star Gate.[4]

"Jupiter Five" inspired The Diamond Moon, the fifth novel in the Venus Prime series by Paul Preuss.

## References

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1. ^ a b Arthur C. Clarke: Reach for Tomorrow. Ballantine Books, New York 1956, p. IV
2. ^ Arthur C. Clarke: Reach for Tomorrow. Ballantine Books, New York 1956, p. 128-160
3. ^ a b c David N. Samuelson: Arthur C. Clarke (1917–). In: Richard Bleiler (ed.): Science Fiction Writers. Critical Studies of the Major Authors from the Early Nineteenth Century to the Present Day. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York 1982, p. 315
4. ^ Arthur C. Clarke, The Lost Worlds of 2001, pp. 165-73.

* v
* t
* e

Space Odyssey

Short stories|

* "The Sentinel"
* "Encounter in the Dawn"

Films|

* 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
* 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984)

Novels|

* 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
* 2010: Odyssey Two (1982)
* 2061: Odyssey Three (1987)
* 3001: The Final Odyssey (1997)

Non-fiction|

* The Lost Worlds of 2001

Comics|

* 2001: A Space Odyssey

Characters|

* HAL 9000

Elements|

* Monoliths
* Discovery

Related|

* Interpretations of 2001: A Space Odyssey
* Technologies in 2001: A Space Odyssey
* 2001: A Space Odyssey in popular culture
* 2001: A Space Odyssey soundtrack
* Alex North's 2001: A Space Odyssey score
* Poole versus HAL 9000 (chess game)
* Jupiter Five
* Machine Man
* A Time Odyssey
* 9000 Hal

* v
* t
* e

Arthur C. Clarke

* Bibliography

Novels|

* Prelude to Space
* The Sands of Mars
* Islands in the Sky
* Against the Fall of Night
* Childhood's End
* Earthlight
* The City and the Stars
* The Deep Range
* A Fall of Moondust
* Dolphin Island
* Glide Path
* Imperial Earth
* The Fountains of Paradise
* The Songs of Distant Earth
* Cradle (with Gentry Lee)
* The Ghost from the Grand Banks
* The Hammer of God
* Richter 10 (with Mike McQuay)
* The Trigger (with Michael Kube-McDowell)
* The Light of Other Days (with Stephen Baxter)
* The Last Theorem (with Frederik Pohl)

Novel series|

| Space Odyssey|

* 2001: A Space Odyssey
* 2010: Odyssey Two
* 2061: Odyssey Three
* 3001: The Final Odyssey

|

Rama series|

* Rendezvous with Rama
* Rama II (with Gentry Lee)
* The Garden of Rama (with Gentry Lee)
* Rama Revealed (with Gentry Lee)

A Time Odyssey|

* Time's Eye (with Stephen Baxter)
* Sunstorm (with Stephen Baxter)
* Firstborn (with Stephen Baxter)

Short story
collections|

* Expedition to Earth
* Reach for Tomorrow
* Tales from the White Hart
* The Other Side of the Sky
* Tales of Ten Worlds
* The Nine Billion Names of God
* Of Time and Stars
* The Wind from the Sun
* The Best of Arthur C. Clarke
* The Sentinel
* Tales from Planet Earth
* More Than One Universe
* The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke

Non-fiction|

* Interplanetary Flight: An Introduction to Astronautics
* The Lost Worlds of 2001
* The View from Serendip
* The Odyssey File: The Making of 2010
* How the World Was One: Beyond the Global Village
* An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural

Adaptations|

* 2001: A Space Odyssey (comics)
* 2010: The Year We Make Contact (film)
* The Nine Billion Names of God (short film)
* Rendezvous with Rama (video game)
* "The Star" (TV episode)
* The Songs of Distant Earth (album)
* Rama (video game)
* Childhood's End (TV miniseries)

Related|

* Arthur C. Clarke in media
* Sir Arthur Clarke Award
* Arthur C. Clarke Award
* Geostationary orbit
* Clarke's three laws
* Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World
* Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers
* Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Universe
* Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies
* God, the Universe and Everything Else
* Great Basses wreck
* 4923 Clarke
* Serendipaceratops
* GRB 080319B

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