 "42" may also be seen as reference to the Ultimate Answer to Life,  the Universe and Everything, as written by Douglas Adams (qv) in  the famous Hitchhikers Guide Books. Adams also wrote scripts for  several _"Doctor Who" (1963)_ (qv) episodes during the late  seventies. Interestingly, in one of the Hitchhiker books there is  also a chapter where the protagonists are caught in a stolen  spaceship headed for the sun.