
She is frightened by their pet chimpanzee, Hector, and strangles it. Attracted by a woman whom they call Nova, they swim below a scenic waterfall. They can breathe the air, drink the water and eat the fruit. They land their shuttle on a temperate, lushly forested planet which they name Soror (Latin for sister). Because they travel close to the speed of light, time dilation causes centuries to pass on Earth during their two years in transit. The manuscript was written by journalist Ulysse Mérou, who in 2500 was invited by wealthy Professor Antelle to accompany him and his disciple, physician Arthur Levain, to Betelgeuse. In a frame story, a rich couple sailing alone in space, Jinn and Phyllis, rescue and translate a manuscript from a floating bottle. The novel tells the tale of three human explorers from Earth who visit a planet orbiting the star Betelgeuse, in which great apes are the dominant intelligent and civilized species, whereas humans are reduced to a savage animal-like state. It was adapted into the 1968 film Planet of the Apes, launching the Planet of the Apes media franchise. La Planète des singes, known in English as Planet of the Apes in the US and Monkey Planet in the UK, is a 1963 science fiction novel by French author Pierre Boulle.
