 The pilot episode that introduces the main cast and sets the stage for the series. Located on the moon is Moonbase Alpha, a multinational scientific research facility. One of its duties is to also monitor and coordinate the activities surrounding two large lunar dumping sites where nuclear waste from Earth is disposed of. The Alphans are trying to launch a fast-tracked manned probe to an  approaching  planet named Meta. The Meta Probe is in jeopardy since two of the mission crew have come down with a mysterious illness. The Alphans tie the illness to the nuclear waste about the time the smaller site unexpectedly explodes. While the Alphans try to avert a similar explosion in the larger waste site, it explodes also, and pushes the Moon out of the Earth s orbit, leaving the Alphans stranded on a moon destined to wander the universe.