2010, odyssey two / Arthur C. Clarke.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"A daring romp through the solar system and a worthy successor to 2001 ."--Carl Sagan

Nine years after the disastrous Discovery mission to Jupiter in 2001, a joint U.S.-Soviet expedition sets out to rendezvous with the derelict spacecraft--to search the memory banks of the mutinous computer HAL 9000 for clues to what went wrong...and what became of Commander Dave Bowman.

Without warning, a Chinese expedition targets the same objective, turning the recovery mission into a frenzied race for the precious information Discovery may hold about the enigmatic monolith that orbits Jupiter.

Meanwhile, the being that was once Dave Bowman--the only human to unlock the mystery of the monolith--streaks toward Earth on a vital mission of its own . . .

"Clarke deftly blends discovery, philosophy, and a newly acquired sense of play."-- Time

" 2010 is easily Clarke's best book in over a decade."-- The San Diego Tribune