Gritty and scientifically accurate science fiction adventure from New York Times best-selling author Ben Bova and NASA space scientist Les Johnson. If you liked The Martian, experience Rescue Mode.

The first human mission to Mars meets with near-disaster when a meteoroid strikes the spacecraft, almost destroying it. The ship is too far from Earth to simply turn around and return home. The eight-person crew must ride their crippled ship to Mars while they desperately struggle to survive.

On Earth, powerful political forces that oppose human spaceflight try to use the accident as proof that sending humans into space is too dangerous to continue. The whole human space flight program hangs in the balance. And if the astronauts can’t nurse their ship to Mars and back, the voyagers will become either the first Martian colonists—or the first humans to perish on another planet.

About Rescue Mode:
"Space enthusiasts will appreciate the technical accuracy of Rescue Mode which reflects the engineering background of author Les Johnson, a rocket scientist. . . . Space enthusiasts . . . will want to add this one to their collection."—Ad Astra, National Space Society

"Bova and Johnson artfully introduce us to the major players in . . . the ambitious program for humankind’s first manned mission to Mars . . . and a tribute to Bova and Johnson’s story-telling skill . . . [which] shows plausible scientists at work in spite of daunting obstacles. . . . a story well-told."—LabLit

About Mars, Inc.:
"The Hugo winner returns to his most popular subject: the quest for Mars."—Publishers Weekly

About the award winning novels of Ben Bova:
“Technically accurate and absorbing . . .”—Kirkus

“[Bova is] the science fiction author who will have the greatest effect on the world.”—Ray Bradbury

“A masterful storyteller.”—Vector

“Gives a good read while turning your eyes to what might be in the not so distant future, just like Clarke and Asimov used to do so well.”—SFX

About The Authors

Ben Bova

Les Johnson

Les Johnson is a futurist, author, and retired NASA Chief Technologist at Marshall Space Flight Center. Publishers Weekly noted that “The spirit of Arthur C. Clarke and his contemporaries is alive and well . . .” when describing his novel, Mission to Methone. His most recent novels, The Spacetime War and Saving Proxima (with coauthor Travis S. Taylor), were published in 2021. He and Travis S. Taylor were also the authors of Back to the Moon and On to Mars. In his day job at NASA, Les has worked on the development of next-generation space technologies—including solar sails, which he believes will eventually take us to the stars. He has recently appeared on Fox News and the Ingraham Report as a commentator on the latest expedition to the moon, Artemis II.