The European Space Exploration Council sends two astronauts to explore a planet similar to the Earth but located on the opposite side of the sun.
A planet is discovered in the same orbit as Earth's but is located on the exact opposite side of the sun, making it not visible from Earth. The European Space Exploration Council decide to send American astronaut Glenn Ross and British scientist John Kane via spaceship to explore the other planet. After a disastrous crash-landing Ross awakes to learn that Kane lies near death and that they apparently have returned to Earth, as evidenced by the presence of the Council director and his staff. Released to the custody of his wife, he soon learns things are not as they seem.—Doug Sederberg <[email protected]>
In 2069, a joint European-NASA mission is launched to investigate a newly discovered planet that lies in Earth orbit but on the opposite side of the Sun. Assigned to the mission are NASA astronaut Colonel Glenn Ross and EUROSEC astrophysicist Dr. John Kane. After training at the EUROSEC base in Portugal, Ross and Kane blast off in the spacecraft Phoenix and are placed in hibernation for the outbound journey. Three weeks later, they are revived. Sensing no immediate signs of life on the planet, they decide to descend to explore the surface. Amidst turbulence, darkness and rough terrain they crash as they try to land on the new planet. Kane is severely injured, but Ross has only some scrapes and bruises. Surprisingly, a Mongolian helicopter rescues them with the rescuer asking them if they speak English. Everything seems normal when they return to the EUROSEC base except for everything optical being reversed. The mission leaders are distressed that Ross is back after only three weeks, accusing him of scrubbing the mission. He insists he didn't and proposes that there are mirror Earths and that he is from the other one.—Garon Smith
In 2069, the European Space Exploration Council's (EUROSEC) Sun Probe discovers a planet in the same orbital path as Earth on the far side of the Sun. The findings are transmitted to a power in the East by double agent Dr Hassler. Tracing the messages to Hassler's laboratory, Security Chief Mark Neuman corners the scientist and kills him.
EUROSEC director Jason Webb convinces NASA representative David Poulson that the West must send a crewed mission to the planet before Hassler's allies in the East. NASA astronaut Colonel Glenn Ross and EUROSEC astrophysicist Dr John Kane are assigned to the mission. After undergoing training at the EUROSEC Space Centre in Portugal, Ross and Kane blast off in the spacecraft Phoenix. They go into an artificial hibernation for the outbound journey, with "Heart-Lung-Kidney" machines maintaining their vital functions. Three weeks later, Phoenix reaches the planet and Ross and Kane are revived. Scans for life prove inconclusive, so the astronauts decide to make a surface landing in their auxiliary craft, Dove. During its descent, Dove is damaged in a thunderstorm and crashes in a mountain range, seriously injuring Kane. The astronauts are picked up by a human rescue team, who tell Ross they have landed near Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. It appears that Ross and Kane have returned to Earth, and they are flown back to the Space Centre.
Neuman and EUROSEC official Lise Hartman question Ross, who denies that he aborted the mission. Later, Kane dies of his injuries. Ross discovers that people are now driving on the wrong side of the road and that he can no longer read printed text because it is all backwards. He comes to the realization that he is indeed on the unknown planet, a Counter-Earth where every detail is a mirror image of his Earth. Ross's wife Sharon refuses to accept his claims, but Webb is convinced when Ross demonstrates his ease in reading reflected text and Kane's post mortem examination reveals that his internal organs are on the "wrong" side of his body. Ross theorizes that the two Earths are parallel and that his counterpart from this world is experiencing similar events on his Earth. Webb proposes that Ross retrieve the flight recorder from the orbiting Phoenix and return home.
EUROSEC builds a new Dove designed to be compatible with the reversed technologies of Phoenix. Modifications include the reverse-polarization of the electrical circuits. Ross blasts off in the spacecraft, which he has named Doppelganger, and attempts to dock with Phoenix. However, the electrical systems malfunction, crippling the spacecraft, causing it to fall back towards the Space Centre. EUROSEC are unable to correct the fault and Doppelganger crashes into a parked spacecraft, killing Ross and starting a chain reaction that destroys much of the Space Centre. All records of Ross's presence on the Counter-Earth are lost in the disaster.
Years later, former EUROSEC director Jason Webb, now confined to a wheelchair and in a much diminished mental state, is admitted to a nursing home. He sees his reflection in a mirror. He rolls forward quickly, trying to touch his doppelgänger, but crashes into the mirror and dies.
