Priplanus
Priplanus is the Robinson party's name for a derelict planet upon which they crashed in late October 1997 after the Jupiter 2 mission went awry.
Encounter
The planet, approximately the same mass as Earth, was identified in alien star charts consulted by John Robinson and Don West while aboard a derelict alien spacecraft they chanced to encounter after losing contact with Earth. Being close by, and in need of a normal gravity environment to make repairs to the spaceship, which was having control problems, John directed the ship to the planet where they made orbit.
The non-functional status of the space pod (a situation that prevailed for some two years before the Robinsons were able to complete repairs and make it operational) necessitated a space walk to reconnoiter the planet's surface. [1] John made the walk, using arm jets (called "Parajets") to control his maneuvers. His arm jets malfunctioned, however, and contact was lost with him. Major West chose, with Maureen Robinson's concurrence, to take the Jupiter 2 down. The stowaway Dr. Smith, however, objected during the initial stages of entering the atmosphere, and locked the controls in a configuration that left West unable to effect a safe landing. The ship subsequently propelled itself through the atmosphere to a crash landing in the planet's northern hemisphere, though the ship survived structurally and was eventually relaunched successfully nearly a year later.
Orbital characteristics and their effect on temperature
Priplanus is the only known planet orbiting a dwarf yellow star. The star appears to be relatively close to the Earth's sun, based on Smith's ability to identify a familiar star once they were spaceborne again, and the fact that the Jupiter 2, at presumably similar velocity, reached the Earth-Alpha Centauri corridor in a matter of days, and then from there to Earth in less than three more days (implying that Professor Robinson and Major West were able to augment the ship's gravity field to produce FTL drive, presumably after insight into alien technologies encountered to date). A hazard guess would put Priplanus' sun at least 10 light years away, but no more than 25.
The planet had two natural satellites, small moon-like bodies that were suitably luminous to cause a werewolf to turn from "man" to "creature" ("The Space Croppers").
Based on the phenomenon carefully recorded by John Robinson, together with information discovered by Smith and the robot, a picture has emerged of the planet's bizarre orbital traits.
At initial landing, the climate was already quite cold, but it warmed quickly and became amenable to the use of the Jupiter 2's outdoor hydroponic gardens. Soon, however, the cold returned and killed the plants overnight. Analysis of the weather station data showed the temperature was due to plunge to Antarctic extremes. John elected to load all personnel in the chariot and quickly head to the equatorial regions to maximize their chances of survival. During the journey south, the temperature did not drop as quickly as expected while they traveled, while at the Jupiter 2, where Smith had elected to remain with the robot, the temperature approached the extreme that was expected.
During a brief excursion from a campsite, John and Don discovered the remains of vegetation that had been incinerated and then frozen. It added to a picture of a planet that, in the words of John in his log book, "about which nothing made sense".
Smith and the robot together determined the seemingly absurd notion of the planet having an exceptionally elliptical orbit with its star at one end of that orbit. Realizing that intense heat was about to recur, Smith sent the Robot in pursuit of the Robinsons to warn them not to proceed further, but to return. The robot, which had been under Smith's control and hostile, was deactivated by West, but a few hours later, John examined the data and compared it with his observations of temperature that hadn't dropped as much as expected. He decided Smith's report was accurate and important, and prevailed over West to keep camp and set up shelter.
As the robot had predicted, the planet made an extremely close pass to its star, and would have incinerated the Robinson party if they had not stopped to erect a shield. The Robinsons then returned to the Jupiter 2. Although heat waves affected their location on other occasions, they did not recur at the same intensity, nor did they suffer the same deep freeze.
The evidence suggested that the orbit of Priplanus was subject to gravitational influence by an unknown additional body in the system of the planet and its star. This influence may have been on a cyclic pattern, recurring every few years as the unknown body moved closer and temporarily altered the orbit of Priplanus.
Biology and natural phenomena
Priplanus' biology was also quite alien. The soil had living bacteria which was parasitic and used other plants, particularly unadapted extraterrestrial specimens (such as the Earth plants brought by the Robinsons) to grow in a rapid way to an enormous size. In time, the Robinsons were able to adapt and overcome the alien bacteria. Other life forms, of a higher order, were also found to be able to adapt or mutate by fusing with other life forms.
Priplanus' also exhibited other strange phenomenon which mostly did not affect the Robinsons. Wild electrical fields seemed to exist, including electrically charged tree branches and an electrified "tumbleweed" which drew the electricity out of the chariot and rendered it temporarily inert.
Evidence of the presence of intelligent beings
The Robinsons found evidence of at least three alien civilizations establishing on the planet, though not native to it. During their aforementioned journey south, they encountered subterranean ruins that evoked memories of ancient ruins on Earth including crypts with trap doors.
On another occasion, they encountered a civilization that had been in stasis, but reactivated without apparent pause when Will awoke its young female ruler; the civilization had the lofty goal of conquering the universe, but the Robinsons were able to thwart the plans, though they are uncertain as to whether they destroyed it or merely returned it to stasis.
A third civilization was encountered by John Robinson in the form of an alien entity, no longer resident in its own body, which took over John's body and used him to accomplish needed repairs to the Jupiter 2. The entity was driven out, John claimed, by his love for his son Will when the alien wanted to destroy the boy.
The planet was also considered for colonization by humanoids from the Tauron civilization. An unintentional biological contamination by the Robinsons - the common cold - resulted in the first two Taurans, who arrived with their son - to depart and presumably recommend against the planet, a decision that was ultimately the wisest considering the planet's quirks and ultimate disposition.
Also, a scout, in the form of an alien robotic device, was deposited on the planet to seek specimens for its master's experiments. This would indicate that the master, or an independent assessment by the robot, determined the planet might have, or be visited by, beings suitable for the master's purposes. This "robotoid" eventually ceased to operate and remained inert until found by Will Robinson.
Present status of planet
The planet no longer exists, or its surface has been completely blown off exposing the core. As the Robinsons neared a full year on the planet, and had acquired a sufficient fuel load for lift-off, a humanoid miner arrived on the planet and began using powerful explosives to get at the substance he coveted. The explosions triggered quakes of such magnitude and at such a depth that the planet's core began to ferment and the quakes began to occur without explosives, continuing a cycle of destruction that could not be stopped. The Robinsons were able to lift off just minutes before the planet's crust was blown off, and in short order, the mantle and core also disintegrated.
The two natural satellites presumably drifted into independent orbits of the star, or became rogue objects that were destroyed or escaped into interstellar space.
Episodes spent on planet by the Robinson party
Notes
- ↑ This non-operation status of the spacepod is a conjecture of the original author of this article. The appearance of the spacepod did not happen until season 3 of the series.