For All Mankind is an American science fiction drama television series created and written by Ronald D. Moore, Matt Wolpert and Ben Nedivi and produced for Apple TV+.
The series dramatizes an alternate history depicting "what would have happened if the global space race had never ended" after the Soviet Union succeeds in the first crewed Moon landing ahead of the United States.
With the Soviet Union emphasizing diversity by including a woman in subsequent landings, the United States is forced to match pace, training women and minorities who were largely excluded from the initial decades of U.S. space exploration.
The series stars an ensemble cast including Joel Kinnaman, Michael Dorman, Sarah Jones, Shantel VanSanten, Jodi Balfour and Wrenn Schmidt.
The series features historical figures including Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, Mercury Seven astronaut Deke Slayton, rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, NASA Administrator Thomas Paine, NASA flight director Gene Kranz, U.S. senator Ted Kennedy, and U.S. presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton with some of them portrayed by actors, while others appear through archival footage that is sometimes altered to reflect the changes in the alternate timeline.
At the same time, he also worked as an instructor and trained "Nixon's Women", a program that was started in response to the Soviets landing cosmonaut Anastasia Belikova on the Moon.
Ed threatened to fire back and destroy Buran, the Soviet shuttle, but Sally Ride, one of his crew members, refused to activate the weapon systems.
He relieved her of her duties and she pulled a gun on him to force him back, but he ignored her threats and told her that he knows she won't shoot him.
He then decided to shoot down Sea Dragon himself, as to prevent the Soviets from committing an action of war by letting them destroy an American shuttle.
Ed and the remaining survivors decided to stay on Mars and wait for a rescue mission, while Kelly and the Phoenix flew back to Earth.
Gordo flew with his best friend Ed Baldwin for Apollo 10 and was criticised for not taking the opportunity to land on the Moon, which allowed the Soviets to come first.
Gordo accompanied her as pilot, sparing him from him anyone finding out about his mental health problems, while Ed stayed on the Moon, as they could not leave Jamestown uncrewed.
In 1970, Tracy became an astronaut candidate as one of "Nixon's Women", a program that was started in response to the Soviets landing cosmonaut Anastasia Belikova on the Moon.
When their daughter Kelly, whom they adopted a few years after Shane's death, told them that she wanted to go the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Karen and Ed were opposed to the idea, which resulted in a family fight.
Frustrated with her family life, she developed a damaging and predatory sexual relationship with Danny Stevens, who she helped raise as a child and was working at The Outpost at the time.
Karen then joined his company, Helios Aerospace, to help him recruit astronauts and engineers from NASA, including her then ex-husband Ed.
In the meantime, Jimmy Stevens became involved with a group of conspiracy theorists and anti-NASA activists, who planned a bombing of the Johnson Space Center.
In 1970, Ellen became an astronaut candidate as one of "Nixon's Women", a program that was started in response to the Soviets landing cosmonaut Anastasia Belikova on the Moon.
When Ellen's friend Larry Wilson, a NASA engineer who is also a closeted gay, becomes a suspect, the two married to give each other cover, which however causes Pam to break up with her.
Following the deaths of Deke Slayton and Harrison Liu, Ellen was the only Apollo 24 crew member to arrive at the Moon, also leaving her stranded for a while, after Ed was sent back, whom she replaced.
He was initially disgusted, but then became more sympathetic, advising her to not reveal her secret to anyone since the world had too many people who thought like him and that it could ruin her career, but that he believes she has great things ahead of her.
During her second presidency, she formed the Mars–7 Alliance to oversee the Mars colony and further events at space exploration and legalised same-sex marriage.
After the FBI starts investigating against her, she accepts an offer from Lenara Catiche, the director of Roscosmos, to flee from the United States to the Soviet Union, where she lives under the alias Margaret Reynolds.
She is later present during the bombing of the Johnson Space Center and survives the initial explosion, but reenters the destroyed building to help others who were injured.
After successfully docking, Danielle and Stepan met to shake hands, which ultimately helped to defuse the tensions between the two countries.
As a child she was boarded on an American C-5A Galaxy transport aircraft as part of Operation Babylift to bring her and other children to the United States as refugees.
After Ed confronted him about his addiction, he grew resentful against him and caused a drilling accident which led to a landslide that killed several astronauts.
She joined NASA as an engineer primarily to maintain her residency status, where she clashed with other employees due to her stubbornness, notably with Bill Strausser, a veteran mission controller, who temporarily quit his job after she called him "Peanut" in reference to an embarrassing episode in his past.
She eventually partnered up with Kelly Baldwin to pursue private funding for a delayed NASA project, which led to the restoration of Dev Ayesa as CEO of Helios Aerospace.
Dev Ayesa, the co-founder of "Helios Aerospace", a private space company with the goal to reach Mars before the NASA and the Soviet Union, for which he recruited Ed and Karen Baldwin and Danny Stevens.