Author Arthur C Clarke dies at 90

Science fiction writer Arthur C Clarke has died at age of 90, an aide to the British author in Sri Lanka said today.

Rohan De Silva said Clarke died after suffering from breathing problems.

Clarke is the author of more than 100 books, including 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Clarke had battled debilitating post-polio syndrome since the 1960s and sometimes used a wheelchair.

He moved to Sri Lanka in 1956, lured by his interest in marine diving which he said was as close as he could get to the weightless feeling of space.

“I’m perfectly operational underwater,” he once said.

He was the co-author with Stanley Kubrick of Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey, but he was regarded as far more than a science fiction writer.

He was credited with the concept of communications satellites in 1945, decades before they became a reality. Geosynchronous orbits, which keep satellites in a fixed position relative to the ground, are called Clarke orbits.

He joined American broadcaster Walter Cronkite as commentator on the US Apollo moonshots in the late 1960s.

Clarke also won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on space, science and the future.