It is 1979, the height of the Cold War and a decade since the Apollo mission to the moon. NASA astronomers have detected the sudden emergence of a wormhole near Mars, which can be safely entered through after six months of space travel from Earth. On the other side of the wormhole, satellite imaging has detected the presence of a planet, dubbed ‘Planet X’, with surface and atmospheric conditions identical to Earth. Radio waves from the planet suggest the existence of extraterrestrial life on Planet X, although nothing else is known. Intelligence suggests that the existence of Planet X is currently unknown to the Soviet Union.