This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 168.156.82.48 (talk) at 02:15, 31 January 2004. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 02:15, 31 January 2004 by 168.156.82.48 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Andromeda Strain is a book (ISBN 0345378482) by Michael Crichton about a team of scientists who investigate a deadly disease of extraterrestrial origin which causes rapid fatal clotting of the blood.
The book was used as the basis for a 1968 movie of the same name, directed by Robert Wise.
After a US government satellite crashes near a village in Arizona, the disease kills all inhabitants but two. An elite scientific team takes the satellite into a secret underground laboratory in Nevada, known as the Wildfire Complex ('Wildfire'), in order to study it. The vector mutates into a form that degrades rubber gaskets, however. This engages an automatic mechanism designed to set off a nuclear weapon beneath the complex, eradicating all traces of the disease before it can reach the surface. Unfortunately, it turns out that the alien disease would thrive on such an enormous energy source and mutate into untold numbers of forms. In a nail-biting conclusion, one scientist races to shut down the bomb before it can detonate.