ANSA was responsible for the spacecraft Liberty 1 which launched from Cape Kennedy on 14 January 1972 (and first flew onto the silver screen and into the hearts and minds of fans around the world in the 1968 film Planet of the Apes). Nicknamed "Icarus" (by fan Larry Evans) after the tragic Greek myth, the dart-like spacecraft, under the command of USAF Colonel George Taylor (played by Charlton Heston), carried four astronauts across the heavens at nearly the speed of light - George Taylor, John Landon, Maryann Stewart and Thomas Dodge. Due to the theories of physicist Dr. Hasslein, regarding a vessel moving faster than the speed of light, after six months on the craft the crew placed themselves into a state of suspended animation using a special drug to keep them sedated, and confined them