power of prayer and faith, the Providential nature of God, and how sometimes humans fail to hear the voice of God because "He won't send an e-mail." Allusions/references to other works The book contains scattered allusions to Star Trek, and more specifically to which characters in that 1960s television series are most analogous to various positions on a Mars crew. The narrative also contains an allusion to The Right Stuff, by describing Astronaut Kennedy Hampton as being an astronaut in the "fighter jock" mold—addicted to flying as a physical sport, given to moderately heavy social drinking, sometimes given to driving while intoxicated, and accepting questionable attentions from female hangers-on, also known as groupies. (Note: this novel is devoid of any sexual content beyond Astronaut Hampton crudely soliciting a sexual bribe from Astronaut Jansen, who indignantly refuses.) Allusions/references to actual history, current science, and popular culture Oxygen makes repeated and obvious references to the near-disastrous Apollo 13 mission. The Mars Habitat Unit, the Earth Return Vehicle, the Ares Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle, and various other pieces of equipment are all products of the active research program of Mars Society under the directorship of Doctor Robert Zubrin. The mission profile is an adaptation of NASA's own Mars Design Reference Mission profile, which itself derives from the Mars Society's own Mars Semi-Direct Mission profile. The following real-life institutions and events bear direct reference in Oxygen: the United States Senate, NBC, and the National Football League (and its premier event, the Super Bowl). Specifically: A US Senator threatens to terminate Project Ares and even NASA itself. NASA commits with NBC to launch Ares 10 the day before the Super Bowl, on a transit timed to have it land on Mars on Independence Day. This is not an optimal launch profile, and as such it is a source of tremendous frustration and consternation on the part of everyone involved, not least the crew. Literary significance and criticism Oxygen is one of few novels to propose that astronauts might not be the unblemished heroes of the popular legend that has grown about them. This legend dates back to Projects Apollo, Gemini, and especially Mercury. Though the author Tom Wolfe (The Right Stuff) has definitively revealed that the Mercury astronauts were not unblemished heroes (with the possible exception of John Glenn), the notion of an astronaut deliberately manipulating his administrative superiors to influence a flight assignment, and