Kris Kelvin is a renowned psychologist, about to head to the space station orbiting the planet Solaris. Several years earlier Solaris was the focal point of scientific research. Then a research party met with a fatal accident while exploring the surface and a member of the rescue party reported seeing strange apparitions. This dimmed the scientific community's interest in the planet to the extent that the space station's crew has decreased from 85 to only 3. When Dr Kelvin arrives he immediately senses that something strange is afoot.—grantss