The American spacecraft Icare, launched in 19721 with a crew of 4, crossed space at close to the speed of light. At the end of an 18-month voyage, the ship crashed on November 25, 39782 on a mysterious planet in the heart of a desert region. The 3 survivors of the crash, Captain George Taylor and Lieutenants John Landon and Thomas Dodge, soon discover that this world is populated by primitive humans dominated by a race of advanced apes.