aboard the ship, arthur learns that ford is a journalist for "the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy" and has been on earth researching the planet for the guide. the two are discovered by vogons and subjected by the captain to a reading of his poetry. the two manage to survive this, and the vogons throw them into the airlock and shoot them out into space. by a huge improbability, they are picked up in the last moment before they die of asphyxiation by the spacecraft "heart of gold" while it is traveling on infinite improbability drive. after getting safely aboard the ship, arthur and ford meet ford's friend zaphod beeblebrox, who had stolen the "heart of gold" as his first act of office as the galactic president, as well as arthur's friend trillian (tricia mcmillan), whom zaphod had picked up from a party on earth. zaphod wants to travel to the legendary planet of magrathea, believing it to hold a great secret.