Photos from the Universe of For All Mankind

[Luath]

FOR ALL MANKIND

FAM is an Apple Tv exclusive, the show is based on the premise of Sergei Korolev, the chief engineer of the Soviet Space Program (yes I know there were competing buro's, but the show sees him like this) survives his OTL fatal heart surgery and perfects the Soviet N1 rocket, allowing the Soviet Union to beat the US to the moon one month before Apollo 11s landing. The show then goes on to demonstrate a continuing space race between the USA and USSR, through the 70s and into the 80s in the latest season. So in keeping with other shows and threads, this is a place for fans to share their ideas for how the universe of FAM could be expanded.

Watch For All Mankind - Apple TV+ (UK)

Imagine a world where the global space race never ended. This thrilling “what if” take on history from Ronald D. Moore (Outlander, Battlestar Galactic…

tv.apple.com

If you want to watch the show itself.

Alexei Leonov: The most famous man in space flight, Leonov was born in 1934 in Listvyanka, Soviet Union, on the 18th of March 1965 Leonov became the first man to walk in space on Voskhod 2. He would follow it up with a further triumph on the 26 of June 1969, when he became the first man to walk on the moon, stepping out of his LOK spacecraft, which in a rare move by the USSR was broadcast live, Leonov spoke the immortal words;

"I take this step for my country, for my people, and for the Marxist-Leninist way of life. Knowing that today is but one small step on a journey that someday will take us all to the stars."

Leonov effectively cemented the USSR's triumph over NASA, who's reputation was dealt a further blow by the near disaster of Apollo 11s mission, one month later.

The N1 Rocket: The Rocket that launched Leonov, Korolev's masterpiece, the N1 was the USSR's answer to the US Saturn 5, a giant of a rocket at over 105 meters tall, the N1 was far cruder and more brutal than the Saturn, in fact the success of such an unlikely machine sparked a debate in space circles as to whether a more striped down and unsophisticated NASA would've gotten to the moon faster. The N1 would be employed throughout the 70s, into the early construction of the Soviet moonbase, before being superseded by the N3 in 1975.

Jamestown Base: America's Lunar Outpost, eager to boost its flagging reputation in the wake of the Soviet Landing, Nasa would commit to far more intensive lunar program than previously envisaged, the centrepiece of which would be Jamestown base, Humankinds first true spaceship, pictured here is but the first module of the base. During the Apollo 23 crisis Jamestown would prove its worth in both sustaining Astronaut Ed Baldwin, far beyond the original mission brief and in the rescue and refuelling of the capsule Osprey.

 

[Kloka]

Michael Collins poses after the splashdown of Apollo 30, the mission where he finally walked on the Moon as commander of Jamestown 5:

(Photo creds: Apollo 30 MS Tony England)

 

[Pipcard]

Inspired by the efforts of the superpowers building bases on the Moon, the smaller Japanese aerospace agencies (ISAS and NAL) were merged into the larger NASDA decades earlier.

A J-I rocket (not named N-I to avoid confusion with the successful Soviet N1), based on license-built Thor-Delta components, launched the Hiten lunar flyby probe in 1976. Japan became the first country other than the Soviet Union or United States to send a spacecraft to the Moon. It had a tiny subsatellite called Hagoromo, which became Japan's first lunar orbiter, but it was only able to transmit a limited amount of data.

(In OTL, ISAS made probes and scientific satellites, and launched Hiten in 1990 on a Mu-3SII solid rocket. NASDA mostly launched communications and weather satellites, but no probes beyond Earth orbit. ISAS built launchers evolved from domestic sounding rockets, but they were limited to 1.4 meters in diameter because of postwar restrictions until the 2.5 m Mu-V rocket in the late 1990s. NASDA had bigger liquid-fuel rockets but had to rely on imported American technology like the 2.44 m Thor-Delta in the early days before creating their own 4 m H-II rocket, also in the 1990s.)

(image source: JAXA Digital Archives)

Artist's impression of the Hiten lunar flyby (found here)

 

[Luath]

Pavel Belyayev - Much has been said, and much will continue to be said about Leonov's first historic moon, but what of the other man who travelled with him? Pavel Belyayev was in fact senior to Leonov having been born in 1925 in Chelishchevo, Soviet Union. Zond 14, the mission that would see Leonov land on the moon, was the second time Belyayev had accompanied Leonov, having joined him previously for Voskhod 2. Again, in contrast to the US landing, Belyayev was in fact the commander of the mission and after Alexei had climbed into his LK lander, Belyayev was left as the sole occupant of the Soyuz 7k-LOK. He then became the most distant human being in history, orbiting through the dark side of the moon. He would later recount that far from a sense of loneliness he had felt almost 'Exalted and aware' during his experience. Sadly Belyayev was not long for the world, he would die less than a year after the landing of complications during surgery.

Amazingly, Michael Collins, the command pilot during Apollo 11, had in fact met Belyayev a few years earlier at the Paris air show, in an extraordinary historical encounter Collins recounted of Belyayev;

"He was really gracious… Belyayev was a very positive, thoughtful guy, a real leader; I liked him a lot"

If he had but known.