Crichton sold 1969's The Andromeda Strain to Hollywood before he finished Harvard Medical School.

FORBES: Forbes Faces: Michael Crichton

Other galaxies, including our near-neighbor, the Andromeda, contain black holes hundreds of times more massive.

WSJ: Book Review: Gravity's Engines

In a publishing career that spanned more than 40 years, Mr. Crichton produced bestsellers such as "Jurassic Park" and "The Andromeda Strain, " and sold more than 200 million copies of his books.

WSJ: Deciphering Michael Crichton's Clues for 'Micro'

Gaia will detail the precise position, distance, movement, and composition of the brightest stars in the sky (out as far as the next galaxies such as Andromeda).

BBC: A billion pixels for a billion stars

Last year HMS Clyde was the first vessel to emerge from the Hampshire naval base since 1967, when Leander-class frigate HMS Andromeda was completed.

BBC: NEWS | UK | England | Hampshire | Warship HMS Clyde is commissioned

His task is to kill, or petrify, a ravening sea beast before it dines on Andromeda (Alexa Davalos), and his journey, in the company of Draco (Mads Mikkelsen) and other nerveless warriors, takes him through deserts prowled by giant scorpions.

NEWYORKER: Clash of the Titans