Dear Johnny Fanboy,

Can you explain to me the fuel situation during Season 2 of Lost in Space?

In the Wild Adventure episode, the Jupiter 2 loses fuel and as a result doesn't have enough power to make a course change to reach Earth. However, in the next episode, The Ghost Planet, the crew are able to not only make course corrections, but make a landing and take off again. In the episode after that, Forbidden World, the crew state that they have nearly enough fuel for lift-off. Were they lying when they said that they didn't have enough fuel to reach Earth, because they wanted to go to Alpha Centauri instead?

Later on in the season, in The Cave of the Wizards, the crew are ready for blast-off again. Obviously they must have sufficient fuel to do so. They end up cancelling the flight so that they don't leave Dr Smith behind (the suckers), but a few weeks later, in The Mechanical Men, their fuel supply seems to be running out again, because Dr Smith tries to concoct a new formula himself. Did Athena come back and guzzle some of it?

Joseph Habermann

Johnny Fanboy replies:

With regard to Wild Adventure, I would suggest that the Jupiter 2 didn't lose all of its deutronium fuel, only the reserves that power the manoeuvring thrusters, and for some reason the ship was incapable of replenishing its thrusters very quickly. As you say, if the ship had truly been running on empty, it would not have been able to manoeuvre or to blast off in The Ghost Planet. Remember that the Robinsons had to leave the world of Priplanus in a hurry in Blast Off Into Space, which might explain the shoddy nature of the ship's drive systems at the time.

The lack of fuel at the beginning of The Mechanical Men might have arisen if we assume that the ship had actually commenced its lift-off before it was aborted in The Cave of the Wizards. A large amount of fuel is expended by real-life rockets just to escape the Earth's gravitational pull. This being the case, the Robinsons would need lots more deutronium before they could attempt another launch.

...I can't quite believe I'm applying reason and logic to Lost in Space!

Return to: