>as happened to Foundation. (I actually like the Apple TV version, but it’s definitely its own thing.)

This is not necessarily a bad thing. Others have noted that a faithful adaptation would have been a snooze-fest and inconsistent at best. There's lots of cases where a movie/TV version departed greatly from the source material, and was better for it.

>Rama may turn out unrecognizable after the Hollywood script jockeys have been through with it

It's being helmed by Denis Villeneuve, the guy who did Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, and the new Dune movies. If anyone can do a good job with it, he can.

>For sci-fi takes on truly alien first contacts,

Don't forget Villeneuve's "Arrival".