On the coast of Algiers, French Captain Hector Servadac, his orderly Ben Zoof and the ground below their feet are ripped from the Earth by a passing comet. Their world changed around them, the pair begin exploring and are soon joined by others to make up a small colony. A Russian Count, the crew of his yacht, a group of Spaniards, a young Italian girl, a Jewish merchant and the French professor who tells them where they all are, traveling through space on a comet he's named Gallia. The only other human inhabitants of this world are a group of British soldiers, stationed on the piece of Gibraltar that was ripped away from the Earth. Confident they will soon be contacted by England in regards to their current situation, these soldiers want nothing to do with the other colonists. Meanwhile, the colonists find refuge in a volcano located on the comet and use it to survive the long journey away from the sun. When the comet completes its orbit (two years Earth time), the professor's calculations show that the comet will again make contact with the Earth.