HAL 9000 - SAL 9000

SAL 9000

SAL 9000 is another sentient computer, similar to HAL, and appears in the novel (and subsequent film version) of 2010: Odyssey Two. Like HAL, SAL was created by Dr. Chandra.

Whereas HAL was characterised as being "male", SAL is characterised as being "female". SAL has camera plates similar to HAL, though the "eye" is blue instead of red. Although the plates clearly state "SAL 9000", it is never stated what the letter S stands for and therefore it is unclear whether "SAL" is just a nickname or an acronym similar to "HAL". Dr. Chandra has a private terminal to SAL's mainframe in his office, and (in the novel) his influence causes her to develop a slightly Indian accent. In the film version, SAL is voiced by Candice Bergen, who was credited under the pseudonym "Olga Mallsnerd", a combination of the surname of Bergen's husband, director Louis Malle and that of Mortimer Snerd, one of her father Edgar Bergen's famous puppet characters.

Before the Soviet–USA mission to retrieve Discovery, Chandra uses SAL for a simulation of the possible effects that a prolonged "sleep" (disconnection) might have induced in HAL, and the project is code-named "Phoenix". When Chandra asks SAL to guess the reason for the name Phoenix, she understands that there are many possible meanings, and her first guess is that it refers to the tutor of Achilles in Greek mythology. Although this is not what Chandra had in mind, SAL's understanding of history and culture makes it clear that SAL has access to some form of encyclopedic knowledge database or has it built in with the rest of her programs.