One of the most underrated shows ever produced by Apple TV in collaboration with Sony Pictures is ‘For All Mankind.’ The show reimagines one of history’s biggest what-if stories during the peak era of the Cold War and how the space race would have never slowed down if the Soviets had reached the moon before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. The show is created by Ronald D. Moore, Matt Wolpert, and Ben Nedivi.
This Apple TV series plays with that single twist and how the Soviets’ landing on the Moon first has ripple effects by reshaping decades of global politics, technology, and human ambition. Instead of easing back after Apollo, audiences see how NASA is jolted into overdrive, pouring resources, talent, and pressure into a rivalry that refuses to cool.
Historic ‘Soviet First’ Forces NASA To Transform Its Culture And Goals
That alternate timeline tells us an ensemble story that stretches across generations. Joel Kinnaman leads the cast as astronaut Ed Baldwin, joined by Michael Dorman, Sarah Jones, Shantel VanSanten, Wrenn Schmidt, Krys Marshall, Sonya Walger, and Jodi Balfour. The world keeps expanding each season, with new faces joining as the stakes rise and humanity pushes further into the solar system.
The show takes us back to the year 1969, as we see that the Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov touches down on the Moon ahead of the United States. That one moment shakes American morale but also lights a fire under NASA. Suddenly, the U.S. isn’t simply planting flags; it’s fighting to catch up. The Soviets sent a woman to the lunar surface next, forcing NASA to change its own culture. Women of every color are chosen as ASCANs under Deke Slayton’s command, and overlooked talent is thrown into the training pipeline, reshaping what the astronaut corps looks like decades ahead of real history.
From there, the show jumps forward about ten years each season. The ’80s, then the ’90s, then the 2000s, and traces how a nonstop global competition in space transforms life on Earth. Technological breakthroughs arrive early, as we see electric cars, fusion power, better leaders, smarter planning, and, notably, no climate crisis. The series treats the space race not as a symbol but as a catalyst for a more ambitious world.
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Sergei Korolev’s Survival Ignites Space Race Pressuring NASA’s Crews To Extremes
Behind the scenes, Moore has noted a key hinge point. In reality, Sergei Korolev, the mastermind of the Soviet space program, died in 1966, derailing their lunar efforts. And based on the What if theory, the show tells us what might have happened if he had survived, and that alone changes everything. By giving the USSR the push it needed, the writers create a world locked into a decades-long contest of invention and exploration.
Season one follows the astronauts and engineers as they scramble to regain momentum. Ed Baldwin, frustrated by NASA’s missteps, finds himself benched after venting to a reporter about how they could have been the first astronauts to reach the moon during the Apollo 10 mission. How he says that NASA lost its will to take risks after the mishap of the Apollo 1 mission. New astronaut candidates, including Tracy Stevens, Danielle Poole, and Ellen Waverly, train under intense pressure as NASA races to establish a lunar base before the Soviets do. Missions succeed, fail, and occasionally turn disastrous, leaving both political and personal life at huge stake. Audiences see how these tragedies strike at home and in space, pushing characters to their emotional limits while the U.S. and USSR move dangerously close to militarizing the Moon.
By the time Jamestown Base rises from the lunar dust, it’s clear the show isn’t just rewriting history, as it’s trying to build on an entirely new frontier. The series is available to stream online via Apple TV or Prime Video. The creator of the series has confirmed that it has been renewed for a 5th season, but there might be some delays in the premiere of the show as per the new updates.
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