In early 2199, the Earth battleship Yamato discovers the floating continent hidden beneath Jupiter's cloud tops when a warp error brings the ship perilously close to the planet. Yamato navigates through the levitated rocky debris surrounding the continent and comes to rest in a small lake. The crew collects plant samples, matches their DNA with alien plants that have invaded Earth in recent years, and correctly determines the purpose of the floating continent. The continent is completely vaporized soon thereafter in the first firing of Yamato's wave motion gun ("Escape from the Jupiter Sphere").