Icarus (fictional spacecraft)
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Icarus is also the name of a spaceship seen in the film Sunshine.
Icarus is the non-canonical name of the spacecraft designed by art director William Creber for Planet of the Apes (1967) and Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971). Icarus is the space craft commanded by Col. George Taylor in Planet of the Apes. Although unnamed in the film, aficionado Larry Evans named its Icarus, and among the series' fans, that is its unofficial name. Similar spaceships (the same prop) appear in Beneath the Planet of the Apes and the first episode of the Planet of the Apes television series.
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[edit] Planet of the Apes
The Icarus first appears in Planet of the Apes (1968). Its crew are Col. George Taylor, Commander, pilot Landon, and scientists Dodge and Stewart. Col. Taylor says theirs is the first manned interstellar mission to the Orion constellation; its purpose is unstated, but might be either exploration or colonization. Though meant to last only eighteen months, the voyage is thousands of years long, because of time dilation. Later, Icarus crashes to Earth in an inland sea in the year A.D. 3978 — Taylor, Landon, and Dodge awaken from hibernation, but find a desiccated Stewart dead, because the air leaked from her hibernation chamber. The floating spacecraft leaks, fills with water, and they abandon ship.
[edit] Beneath the Planet of the Apes
The second appearance of the Icarus-type spacecraft is a tail-lander variant in Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1969), with a two-man crew sent to rescue Taylor's crew, astronauts Brent and Captain Maddox, who is fatally injured. Brent tells Maddox, shortly before his death, that the craft's chronometre indicates the year is A.D. 3955; (the most famous continuity errors in the series, given that Taylor's mission crash-landed in A.D. 3978).
[edit] Escape from the Planet of the Apes
The second appearance of the Icarus proper (third of the Icarus-type spacecraft) is in Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971). It is Col. Taylor's spacecraft, raised from the inland sea, refurbished, and piloted by ape scientist Dr. Milo. It was flown by Zira, Cornelius, and Dr. Milo from the year A.D. 3955 back to A.D. 1971, its command module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast, and was recovered by the U.S. Navy.
[edit] Planet of the Apes TV series
The fourth, final appearance of the Icarus spacecraft was in the Planet of the Apes television series. On a mission to Alpha Centauri, launched in A.D. 1980, this spacecraft traverses a time warp, then crash-lands on the Planet of the Apes in the year A.D. 3085. Its three-man astronaut crew: Jones, Burke, and Virdon; the crash impact killed Jones; Burke and Virdon survive. Later, the Apes destroy their Icarus spacecraft.
The Planet of the Apes Initial Concept Pages reveals the name of this spacecraft to be Probe Six.
[edit] Other Appearances
The Icarus was used as a crashed "Unified States of Earth" spaceship in the "Long Rain" segment of the film adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story collection The Illustrated Man.
[edit] External links
- The Last Flight of the Icarus Fansite hosting many pictures and other information.
- Spaceship: Icarus Site with pictures, information, and behind-the-scenes pictures.
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