New Scientist - USA (2021-03-06)

34 | New Scientist | 6 March 2021

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EARLY in the second season of For

All Mankind, Ronald D. Moore’s

counterfactual take on the space

race, astronaut Molly Cobb is faced

with an impossible decision: let a

friend die on the lunar surface as a

massive solar storm hits, or rescue

him and risk getting a fatal dose of

radiation. Viewers know Cobb has

beaten tougher odds before, but as

she is forced to choose, you fear

that she is living in a world that

no longer rewards heroics.

The show’s alternative history

began with one key change: in this

universe, the US was beaten to the

moon by the Soviet Union in 1969.

The rivalry between the nations

grew and accelerated progress in

space, with NASA sending women

to the moon in the early 1970s

and establishing a base,

Jamestown, there in 1973.

After a slow start, the first

season did a terrific job of

conveying the importance of

space travel, while killing off

astronauts left and right to show

what a grim endeavour it can be.

All the same, despite the thrills,

it felt a little soulless at times.

When the second series begins,

after a jump to 1983, life on Earth

doesn’t look too rosy. In its version

of world events, Ronald Reagan

became president earlier than

he really did and superpower

relations curdled, prompting yet

more resources to be poured into

space exploration. History fans

should comb through the opening

montage to catch all the ways this

drama diverges from the real

timeline: the Camp David Accords

that brought peace between Israel

and Egypt, the Three Mile Island

nuclear accident and the Iran

hostage crisis among them.

In this version of the 1980s, the

moon is just another front of the

cold war. Up to 30 astronauts at a

time now live at Jamestown while

looking for lithium at Shackleton

crater, but the Russians edge ever

closer to US mining operations. On

Earth, the Johnson Space Center’s

Once more, with feeling For All Mankind, an alternative space race story, returns

with the cold war raging. NASA is under pressure to militarise the moon, politicking

is everywhere and small acts of defiance are as good as it gets, says Bethan Ackerley

“ Politicking threatens

to scupper plans for

an astronaut and a

cosmonaut to shake

hands while in orbit”

TV

For All Mankind

Created by Ronald D.

Moore, Matt Wolpert

and Ben Nedivi

Apple TV+

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The Martian

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Stranded on Mars, astronaut

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A rare space blockbuster

in terms of its homage to

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director Margo Madison and other

NASA officials are under pressure

to militarise the moon. Politicking

even threatens to scupper plans

for an astronaut and a cosmonaut

to shake hands while in orbit, the

lone gesture of peace in a world

on the brink of annihilation.

For All Mankind is hardly the

most nuanced take on the US-

Soviet relationship – aside from

a few scenes between Madison,

astronaut Danielle Poole and their

Russian counterparts, almost no

common ground is acknowledged

between the nations. Yet the cold

war setting has made the show a

leaner, darker beast.

Underdeveloped characters like

Ed Baldwin, the sour-faced, square-

jawed lead, have fewer but better

things to do this time around. Ed,

for instance, is now unhappily

settled in his role as head of the

astronaut office, sartorially

muzzled by milquetoast sweaters

and clearly longing for adventure.

And despite the streamlining,

key plot threads from last season

aren’t left dangling. Take Poole’s

decision to break her own arm to

hide a fellow astronaut’s declining

mental health. Though she was

the first African-American person

in space, Poole’s “accident” gave

NASA an excuse to sideline her –

like the few other black astronauts.

As the season progresses, it is

clear the astronauts and the NASA

team are at the mercy of natural

and geopolitical forces almost

entirely outside their control –

almost. It is in the small moments

of defiance and sacrifice, whether

that is staring down a solar storm

or shaking an enemy’s hand, that

For All Mankind proves it has

figured out what kind of show

it wants to be. ❚

AP

PL

E^ T

V

Molly Cobb (played by

Sonya Walger) faces

some tough choices

The TV column

Bethan Ackerley is a subeditor

at New Scientist. Follow her

on Twitter @inkerley