the Moon, have been monitoring events inside Rama and giving feedback. The Hermian colonists have concluded that Rama is a potential threat and send a rocket-mounted nuclear bomb to destroy it should it prove to pose a threat. Lt. Boris Rodrigo takes advantage of the five minute transmission delay and uses a pair of wire cutters to defuse the bomb and its control. As Rama approaches perihelion, and on their final expedition, the crew decide to visit the city closest to their point of entry, christened "London", and use a laser to cut open one of the "buildings" to see what it houses. They discover transparent pedestals containing holograms of various artefacts, which they theorise are used by the Ramans as templates for creating tools and other objects. One hologram appears to be a uniform with bandoliers, straps and pockets that suggests the size and shape of the Ramans. As the crew photographs some of the holograms, the biots begin returning to the cylindrical sea, where they are recycled by aquatic biots ('sharks') and the six striplights that illuminate Rama's interior start to dim, prompting the explorers to leave Rama and to re-board Endeavour. With Endeavour a safe distance away, Rama reaches perihelion and utilizes the Sun's gravitational field, and its mysterious "space drive", to perform a slingshot manoeuvre which flings it out of the Solar System and towards an unknown destination in the direction of the Large Magellanic Cloud. Ending The book was meant to stand alone, although its final sentence suggests otherwise: Clarke denied that this sentence was a hint that the story might be continued. In his foreword to the book's sequel, he stated that it was just a good way to end the first book, and that he added it during a final revision. Reception John Leonard of The New York Times, while finding Clarke "benignly indifferent to the niceties of characterization," praised the novel for conveying "that chilling touch of the alien, the not-quite-knowable, that distinguishes sci-fi at its most technically imaginative." Other reviewers have also commented on Clarke's lack of character development and overemphasis on realism. Awards and nominations The novel was awarded the following soon after publication Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1973 British Science Fiction Association Award in 1973 Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1974 Jupiter Award for Best Novel in 1974 John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1974 Locus