Rendezvous with Rama

Commanding officer of Endeavour; leads southern landing on New York, manages crew interviews, authorises Pak's Dragonfly mission, crosses the Sea to rescue Pak, and coordinates response to the tidal wave.

First officer who leads the final descent into Rama, questions Norton's switch to aggressive exploration, and theorizes biots cannot distinguish humans from Ramans

Studies the micro-organisms in the Cylindrical Sea, warns the crew about the water's toxicity, and assesses Pak's fitness before and after the Dragonfly mission.

Talkative junior officer; speculates on the oxygen-breathing universality of intelligent life; close companion and apparent partner of Mercer.

Chairs the Committee representing Mars; steers debate toward consensus with minimal intervention; convenes the emergency storm-warning session.

Mercury's United Planets representative who addresses the General Assembly warning of Rama's dangers and implicitly justifying the missile strike

Predicts the existence of docks, harbours, and ships along the Cylindrical Sea based on nautical reasoning; prompts the eastward cliff search.

Space reconnaissance instrumentation expert; third member of Ernst's party to the Cylindrical Sea, relying on portable telescope and unaided observation.

Considered for the descent party but excluded by Laura Ernst on fitness grounds; noted for being two kilos overweight.

Devout member of the Fifth Church of Christ, Cosmonaut; quiet, dignified, reliable; cautious in theological and scientific speculation; veteran of the Paris sortie.

Rama Committee scientist whose template-manufacturing theory is endorsed by the Hermian Ambassador; delivers the novel's final line about Ramans doing everything in threes

Lunar Olympics sky-bike athlete who smuggles Dragonfly aboard and flies it to the southern continent; encounters the crab-creature, is stranded, and is rescued by Norton.

Large, possibly robotic crab-like organism that systematically dismantles Dragonfly and collects the pieces on its back before departing towards the Sea, ignoring Pak entirely.

Executive officer who crosses to the Hub during sleeping hours to deliver a can of toothpaste on the skipper's behalf

Crew member who operates the laser torch to breach a building in the city called London during the final Rama expedition