Peter Burke

Pete Burke was an astronaut major from ANSA who was cast onto the ape planet with Virdon. A third astronaut, Jones, was killed in the initial crash. Burke was more adaptable to the idea of life on this planet than Virdon, but also had the hotter temper of the two. He would sooner fight with an ape than negotiate, as he believed they could not be trusted. He was cynical of Virdon's faith that he could find a way back home but didn't disobey his commanding officer's orders.

He was born in Jersey City and had two sisters and a dog, but he preferred to have one sister and two dogs, and attended P.S. 103. He later met and became friends with another trainee astronaut, Verina, dated a girl called Susan, learned the Japanese art of kendo and knife-fighting, and became proficient in just about every field of engineering, medicine and technology.