Author Andy Weir specializes in a subgenre of science fiction known as "hard" science fiction. The subgenre is characterized by scientific accuracy, technical explanations, and a focus on the hard sciences, like chemistry and biology, and the narratives strive for plausible and credible textual elements. The 1930s through 1950s are considered the "Golden Age" of science fiction, when many of the conventions and tropes of the science fiction genre were established. This era was dominated by the development of hard science fiction, mainly by a group of authors known as the Big Three: Arthur C. Clarke (Childhood's End, 2001: A Space Odyssey), Robert Heinlein (Stranger in a Strange Land, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress), and Isaac Asimov (Foundation, I, Robot). Hard science fiction continued to be developed through the 1960s and 1970s by authors like Michael Crichton (The Andromeda Strain, Sphere), and more recently, Kim Stanley Robertson (Red Mars, New York 2140, The Ministry for the Future) and Liu Cixin (The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest).

Since the publication of Weir's debut novel, The Martian (2011), he has been at the forefront of contemporary hard science fiction. The Martian engages in a thought experiment that posits what would be necessary for a person to survive on Mars. In his second novel, Artemis (2017), Weir continues to explore the possibilities and constraints of life in space with the establishment of a lunar city. In Project Hail Mary, Weir both adheres to and builds upon the conventions of hard science fiction with the establishment of an extraterrestrial species that collaborates with human science teacher Ryland Grace to save their worlds from a galactic phenomenon that is threatening them both.