Rendezvous with Rama
Rendezvous with 31/439 (Original Title: Rendezvous with Rama ) is a science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke, published in 1972 He received the 1973 Nebula and 1974 Hugo. .
Action
The story takes place in the 22nd century, when an alien spaceship in the form of more than 50 km long cylinder passes through the solar system. A group of astronauts is sent to investigate the spaceship closer. Clarke describes how the spaceship with increasing proximity to the sun " thaws " and successively various biomechanical life forms are active, which are observed and studied by the human crew. Well within the orbit of Mercury, the artifact completely activated and accelerated by an unknown drive. Apparently, it has used the solar system only " gain momentum " for.
The story is told from the perspective of the people by the target and the creators of the spaceship remain mysterious.
In the original English title, the " Rama " refers to the name of the spaceship. Since you first thought it was an asteroid, it was named after the Hindu deity Rama.
The book was originally conceived as a single work, but the final movement seemed in retrospect, almost like a reference to two sequels ( English Text):
German:
For those not intended sequels Clarke teamed up with Gentry Lee.
Other books in the series
Design and geography of 31/439
31/439 is based, by design, a Oberth'sche living roll ( Oberth 1954): The habitat is the inside of a rotating hollow cylinder. Through the rotation of an artificial gravity of about 0.6 g is generated. In addition, 31/439 equipped with a drive system for interstellar locomotion and therefore differs from the design of an O'Neill colony ( O'Neill 1974).
On the inner surface and about in the middle of the cylinder there is a lake, the Cylindrical Sea. In the middle of this lake a mysterious island is located, appointed by the astronauts of the high towers of " New York ". The lake is divided 31/439 into a northern and a southern hemisphere. Are located at the two ends of the cylinder, the north pole and the south pole, these are the circular statements of the cylinder. At the North Pole the airlocks are fitted to which they lead long stairs and ladders, while at the South Pole, the drive systems are installed in the form kilometer-long spines.
On the remaining " land area " are more clusters of buildings which appear as cities. These are occupied by the astronauts rather arbitrary with the name of London, Paris, Moscow, Mumbai, Beijing and Tokyo.
Influence on the science and history
The project for the discovery of 31 /439, the first two chapters of the book, Project Spaceguard, is a program that tracks near-Earth asteroids that are on a collision course with Earth. This project was created by a fictional disaster in life, when an asteroid on Italy and the Adriatic Sea crashed while Milan and Venice destroyed. A few years later, a project Spaceguard was actually lifted out of the baptism. The United States Congress authorized NASA and provided the means available for Project Spaceguard, after the interest in disasters by asteroid strikes was awakened with some films from Hollywood something.
Filming
A film adaptation of the novel by David Fincher as a director with Morgan Freeman in the title role, was established in October 2008 until further on ice. The reasons of poor health Morgan Freeman, and the lack of a script were called.
Computer Games
The illustrated text adventure Rendezvous with Rama ( Telarium, 1984) based on the novel. Clarke wrote a conclusion that differs from the end of the book for the game.
In October 1996 Rendezvous appeared in space ( original title Rama ), developed by Dynamix computer game in which participate Gentry Lee and Arthur C. Clarke. The point- and-click adventure game in the style of Myst based on the novel Rama 2 The multimedia production with pre-rendered background graphics, video and digital sound consisted of three CD - ROMs, and included a video interview with the authors.