Interesting picture. I see you were careful trying to simulate the visual effects natural to an airless environment. But then, if I may, the shadows are too fuzzy, they should be sharp because of the lack of air. Their faces are visible through the helmet. I'm not sure if that was really the case, I dont remember ever seeing the faces of the astronauts in the photographs I saw from the moon, because the glass was too reflective. Still bulldozed, I think some bumpiness in the ground and walls would make it more natural. I love the texture on the wall, where did you get it? I could use it myself! :-)

I think a bit more reflections on the helmets might be nice, and even tho it is a bulldozed spot i believe that the wall should be a bit rougher and also at least a few small pebbles. Either way it is a great idea and the astronauts looks really confused.

An interesting concept. A shame that you can't show the dust underfoot :) I think that perhaps the front of the helmet should be a bit more reflective?

This is the one time I'll tell anybody that the shadows should be razor sharp, as Rutra says - the shadow won't spread at all. They are really pretty sharp here, but I'd suggest you put in a prop here and there to represent a light stand, like in the set of the film - currently there are multiple shadows going on, which would be fine if we had another light source to cast them (a light stand perhaps). There's no problem with the way the scene is lit, I think it looks very good, but just some visual cue to help the viewer understand where the light comes from. You might even sneak in a small bit of lens flare - we're not going to look at this scene through the naked eye! Many viewers cringe at lens flare automatically though, so that's a stylistic decision. A very small bit of glossy shader on the surface of TMA-1 would help the viewer pick out the edges. You might also think about pushing the camera down to maybe the knee height of the astronauts and tilting the camera up, to heighten the sense of scale of TMA-1 and maybe inspire a little vertigo in the viewer. A nice homage to Stanley Kubrick/Arthur C. Clarke's masterpiece film and book.

Most crits here would be technical, as they have given you, and that is currently beyond my expertise, though I'm getting there. :) At first glance, the image was very good. At second, I can see what everyone means. The pic is still excellent, especially the light absorbing Monolith. Good work on a difficult subject.

Your explicit realism shows, which may or may not gain you some crits for, or against. There's always a debate on what is realistic, and what is most visually expected and pleasing. This is different from how i have seen lunar space scenes, from being trained, perhaps, with 20th century filmaking. But I like that difference and your care to be spot on shows.

Some greeblies added would help. Aka: Walkway, camera stands, laser chromotographs, a lunar bull-dozer itself, or stands for sensors,or motion sensors or such would lend a little wieght to the otherwise empty-looking scene. Some scapes on the ground indicating a bull-dozer blade could be done with displacement maps. I agree with the reflective helmet comments, so on to the favorable comments--It's well thought out and I love the thought about the stars vs lunar surface comment. The general lay-out and execution is very good. An excellent homage to Arthur C. Clarke.

I agree with the helmet glass. I'd use a 25% raytrace with a reflection map and sphere map into the background of the raytrace node this would help the visors look a little more realistic. It's an interesting concept, and I love the sense of scale involved.

There's a 2001 model site (don't remember exactly, but I think it's strafe.com, or something like that). Yup, there's some stuff like runway matting going down the sides, and holding up the walls (I did a TMA-1 piece a couple years back..;) There were some bits of kit, lights, etc. Stonemason has some things that would work well for that. Everything else is peachy...how silly that they thought it only ended with 3 dimensions..;)

I've often wondered what first contact might be like. 2001 is probably the best speculation as to how it will be. Humans confronted with something as enigmatic as TMA1.