 A portion of "Wheelers"' fiction is based on current theories that the presence of gas giants may actually be a necessary factor in the formation of habitable terrestrial planets, as their mass deflects and breaks up potentially devastating threats.Earth-bound comets from outside the solar system tend to either slingshot past Jupiter and launch into hyperbolic orbits that take them far from the terrestrial planets, or may lose momentum and drift peaceably into the Sun.Without the incredible gravitational presence of Jupiter, it's possible that our planet would experience so many impacts and close calls as to prevent advanced evolution or even the formation of life.