Out of the Silent Planet Robert McClenaghan writes, ""Out of the Silent Planet", the shortest and most straightforward of the [Space Trilogy] books, incorporates many of the elements of classic science fiction, including a space flight, meetings with fantastic aliens, and an extended depiction of another planet. Were it not for the theological backdrop (which comes into focus only toward the story's end), "Out of the Silent Planet" could pass as merely a well-written and exceptionally erudite pulp novel." John Gosling, on his website devoted to "The War of the Worlds", wrote that the novel "is a very well written and important piece of Martian
Mars to Stay the astronauts from the surface of Mars is one of the most difficult parts of a Mars mission, the idea of a one-way trip to Mars has been proposed several times. Space activist Bruce Mackenzie, for example, proposed a one-way trip to Mars in a presentation "One Way to Mars – a Permanent Settlement on the First Mission" at the 1998 International Space Development Conference, arguing that since the mission could be done with less difficulty and expense if the astronauts were not required to return to Earth, the first mission to Mars should be a settlement, not a visit.