John Crichton, an astronaut, worked for IASA, and as the show begins, Crichton is preparing to test a new method of propulsion, a slingshot through space, in the hope of reaching the kind of speeds necessary to travel deeper into our galaxy.

Crichton's father, Jack, had also been an astronaut, but clearly more on the action hero side of things, rather than the scientific research aspects. Crichton though, working with his friend DK at IASA, began the test flight in his module, but an accident occurs.

During the experiment, an electromagnetic wave hits, and somehow Crichton's ship is shot down a wormhole, into a distant part of the galaxy. Once there, he is thrust straight into the action, as a force called the Peacekeepers attack an escaping group of prisoners. With a collision that results in the death of a Peacekeeper pilot, Crichton is forced to run away with the escaped prisoners aboard a living ship called Moya. It is here that he finds himself most at home.