| abstract
| - Will is attempting to send out an SOS using balloon-assisted rockets. Moments after the Robot launches the latest rocket, something goes terribly wrong and the rocket ignites the hydrogen filled balloon and plummets to the ground in a fireball. At the last moment Will and his sister Penny are pulled out of the way by their father. Later on, Don finds some fuel is missing and blames Smith, but it turns out that Will has used far more than he thought in his experiments. Short of fuel, John and Don come up with an idea to build a plasma engine to power the Jupiter 2. Their initial experiments are encouraging. The Robinsons are eager to resume their flight to Alpha Centauri, although Dr. Smith wishes to return to Earth. The first real test of the modifications to the Jupiter 2's engines are a failure, though, and all of the crew are quite depressed at the outcome. Will comes up with a new idea—rather than send the Jupiter 2, why not build a "raft" big enough for two to send to earth. With a balloon assisted take-off, it seems feasible and the crew begin adapting the ship's reactor core for use as a small spacecraft. The family works night and day on the Reactor Unit. After days of intensive work the ship is finally ready for lift-off.Although Don is set to pilot the small craft to Earth, Dr. Smith accidentally gives the lift off signal to the Robot while he and Will are aboard. The Robinsons are very concerned over their son's unplanned trip, but have confidence that he will know what to do. All goes well and a planet appears on their radar, but they are unable to raise Alpha Control or any other station on Earth. They make land in a desolate landscape; Dr. Smith is certain they are in the Badlands of the Dakotas or perhaps Wyoming, but Will is not convinced. They soon meet a two-headed plant creature; even then Smith insists it is merely a skunk-cabbage. Will grows increasingly worried now that he is positive they are not on Earth; he reaches out for Dr. Smith, saying he hopes that he will be a father to him just like his own father; as they set off, Smith makes the 'fatherly' gesture of offering to give Will a piggy-back ride. They soon come to a dead end and find the alien creature has blocked their only way out. At the Jupiter 2 everyone is concerned at the lack of further radio contact from Will when they pick up a blip on the radar matching the reactor core's signature. They realize that the raft must have landed elsewhere on their planet within range of their radar. John embarks in the chariot and Don with the jetpack to find Dr. Smith and Will. Meanwhile, Will tries to communicate with the plant creature; when Dr. Smith begins eating berries from another plant, it grabs him and Will desperately tries to reach his father by radio. John picks up the signal and is able to home in on Will and Smith's location. He arrives just in time to shoot the two-headed creature as it is advancing menacingly on his son and Dr. Smith. John later explains that the mission failed because the raft simply could not generate enough power to escape the planet's gravitational pull, even with the new plasma drive.
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