The angry clouds of Jupiter swirl beneath a retro Von Braun-esque rocket, and a mysterious cylindrical object – Rendezvous With Rama as imagined by UK Illustrator Kevin Hauff. This piece was commissioned by The Radio Times for the BBC 4 dramatisation of Arthur C. Clarke’s classic 1974 Novel.

The story concerns humanity’s first contact with an alien intelligence, when in 2244 a large cylindrical object of unknown origin ermerges from the void of deep space speeding through the solar system on slingshot navigation of the Sun. An Intercept mission is hastily organised and launched, the job of the astronauts to approach the giant craft and board it before it races back to the beyond….

All in all an excellent imaginative novel that was followed by a series of entertaining though perhaps not entirely necessary sequels. Rendezvous with Rama also spawned a point and click CD-Rom adventure/logic puzzle game from the mid 90’s [Link to Rama at Mobygames.com] and has long been rumoured to be about to enter the pre-production phase for a Hollywood adaptation – alas nothing yet! However I did come across this nicely done short film by Aaron Ross, check that here: http://ow.ly/klyc

Read more about Rendezvous with Rama at Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendezvous_with_Rama

See more of Kevin’s excellent Illustration at his portfolio site http://www.kevinhauff.com/ and blog http://kevinhauff.blogspot.com/

** Addendum: 1st sept

An excellent 3d rendering of the world inside Rama: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBIQCm54dfY cheers for the link Preston!