The Red Planet by Charles Chilton (Pan, 1960)

 

Blast off! to new heights of adventure and excitement

with JET MORGAN and the crewmen of the spaceship DISCOVERY, made famous in Charles Chilton's thrill-packed BBC radio series. 

In this book, Jet leads the first fleet of rocketships to reach across space from the Moon to the 'Red Planet', Mars.  But right from the beginning the expedition was ill-omened.  Uncanny happenings were to test their courage to breaking point, both on the long space flight and on the hostile planet itself.

Nerve-racking sequel to JOURNEY INTO SPACE

"Jet Morgan"!  Now there's a name that really belongs in a mid-century space opera.  And what better adventure for a mid-century space hero than to battle nefarious aliens on Mars?

Jet made his debut on BBC radio in 1953.  The Red Planet is a novelization of his second serial (also on radio) broadcast in 1954.   Both serials were immensely popular in their day--pulling a bigger audience in their timeslots than television.   They're available to download at Old Time Radio Download for anyone who's interested.