Robinson Crusoe on Mars

Draper and McReady reach Mars Gravity Probe 1 and are forced to use up their remaining fuel to avoid a collision with a large orbiting meteoroid. They descend in one-man lifeboat pods and become the first humans on Mars, but they are separated.

Draper discovers a cave and learns how heating coal-like rocks releases warmth and oxygen, allowing him to refill his air tanks. He figures out how to move around in the thin Martian atmosphere and begins to explore for survival resources.

During an excursion, Draper stumbles upon McReady's crashed lifeboat and finds the captain's corpse. The grim find confirms the fate of his stranded companion and the peril of the environment.

Draper locates Mona alive among the wreckage and begins to care for her. He feeds her a salty cracker, then follows Mona to a cave where a large pool of water and edible plant life are growing, offering a potential lifeline.

As the months pass, Draper grows increasingly detached from reality, sometimes imagining McReady as a living, quiet presence. He also watches as his spaceship circles overhead, unable to land because of the fuel shortage.

Draper uncovers a dark rock slab revealing a humanoid skeleton wearing a black bracelet. He deduces the alien was murdered and signals his ship to self-destruct to hide his discovery from whatever caused it. The act shows his paranoia and risk in staying alive.

A spaceship descends and Draper heads toward the landing site in hope of rescue, only to witness alien spacecraft and human-looking slaves mining in the area. One slave escapes and runs into Draper, who then rescues him and returns to the cave.

Draper names the rescued stranger 'Friday' and, at first wary, the two gradually grow to trust and like each other. Draper begins teaching Friday to speak English as they form a brotherly bond.

A portion of a passing meteoroid explodes overhead, showering the area with thick black ash. Draper is buried, but Friday saves him and shares his 'air pills' to provide them with oxygen.

The alien spacecraft reappears, apparently tracking Friday by his bracelets. Draper tries to remove the bracelets with a wire saw as aliens bombard their hiding place.

Draper, Friday, and Mona flee north through underground Martian canals and eventually surface near the polar icecap. They are exhausted, nearly out of air, and build a snow shelter to survive the exposure.

Draper cuts off Friday's bracelets just before a meteoroid crashes into the ice, causing an explosion that melts the shelter and saves them from freezing. They detect an approaching ship, and a capsule descends, bringing English-speaking human contact as Mars recedes in the distance.