They find navigational data to reach Alpha Prime, and a camouflaging creature Penny calls "Blarp", along with evidence suggesting the ship is from the future. They board the Proteus, with Will controlling the now-modified robot. Passing through a strange distortion in space, the crew finds two abandoned ships in orbit: the Earth ship Proteus, and another ship clearly not of human origin. Forced to use the experimental hyperdrive with an unplotted course, the ship is transported through hyperspace to a remote planet in an uncharted part of the universe. Smith awakens the Robinsons and West, who manage to subdue the robot, but the ship is falling uncontrollably into the Sun. The robot activates and begins to destroy the navigation and guidance systems, en route to destroying the family.
Zachary Smith, a Sedition spy, sabotages the ship's on-board robot before launch, but is betrayed by his cohorts and left unconscious as the ship launches and the family enters cryosleep. Global Sedition, a mutant terrorist group, assassinates the Jupiter II's pilot, who is replaced by hotshot fighter pilot Major Don West, to his chagrin.
Penny rebels by breaking curfew, while Will's prize-winning science experiment involving time travel goes largely unnoticed by John. In an effort to save humanity, the United Global Space Force sends Professor John Robinson, his wife Maureen, daughters Judy and Penny, and young prodigy son Will on the spaceship Jupiter II to complete construction of a hypergate over the planet Alpha Prime, which will allow the population of Earth to be instantly transported and populate the new planet.
In 2058, Earth will soon be uninhabitable due to the irreversible effects of pollution and ozone depletion.