For All Mankind (TV series)

For All Mankind is an American science fiction streaming 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.

The series stars Joel Kinnaman in the lead role as fictionalized NASA astronaut Edward Baldwin, with Michael Dorman, Sarah Jones, Shantel VanSanten, Jodi Balfour, and Wrenn Schmidt in other starring roles. The series features historical figures including Apollo 11 crewmembers Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, and President Richard Nixon. Seth Gordon directed the first two episodes of season 1.

For All Mankind premiered on November 1, 2019, and was renewed by Apple TV+ in October 2019 for a second season, which premiered on February 19, 2021. In December 2020, ahead of the second season premiere, the series was renewed for a third season.

Premise

The first crewed mission to the Moon during the Space Race in the late 1960s was a success for NASA and the United States. This drama poses the question: “What if the Space Race had never ended?”

In an alternate timeline, a Soviet cosmonaut, Alexei Leonov, becomes the first human to land on the Moon. This outcome devastates morale at NASA, but also catalyzes an American effort to catch up. With the Soviet Union emphasizing diversity by including a woman in subsequent landings, the US is forced to match pace, training women and minorities who were largely excluded from the initial decades of US space exploration.

Cast and characters

Main

  • Joel Kinnaman as Edward Baldwin
  • Michael Dorman as Gordo Stevens
  • Sarah Jones as Tracy Stevens
  • Shantel VanSanten as Karen Baldwin
  • Jodi Balfour as Ellen Wilson (née Waverly)
  • Wrenn Schmidt as Margo Madison
  • Sonya Walger as Molly Cobb (season 2; recurring season 1)
  • Krys Marshall as Danielle Poole (season 2; recurring season 1)
  • Cynthy Wu as Kelly Baldwin (season 2)
  • Casey W. Johnson as Danny Stevens (season 2)
  • Coral Peña as Aleida Rosales (season 2)

Recurring

  • Michael Harney as Jack Broadstreet (season 1), a TV news anchorman
  • Tait Blum as Shane Baldwin (season 1), the son of Ed and Karen Baldwin
  • Arturo Del Puerto as Octavio Rosales (season 1), an undocumented Mexican immigrant who settles in Houston with his daughter Aleida and gets a job as a custodian at the Johnson Space Center
  • Olivia Trujillo as pre-teen/teen math student Aleida Rosales (season 1)
  • Noah Harpster as Bill Strausser, a Mission Controller
  • Edwin Hodge as Clayton Poole (season 1), Danielle’s husband
  • Tracy Mulholland as Gloria Sedgewick (season 1), the wife of Frank Sedgewick
  • Dave Power as astronaut Frank Sedgewick, the Command Module Pilot of Apollo 15
  • Meghan Leathers as Pam Horton, a barkeeper, and Ellen’s lover (season 1); poet and an English dept. writing instructor at Austin Community College (season 2)
  • Wallace Langham as Harold Weisner (season 1), the NASA administrator in the Ted Kennedy administration; he replaced Thomas Paine as head of NASA
  • Nate Corddry as Larry Wilson, a gay NASA engineer who poses as Ellen’s boyfriend and later husband
  • Leonora Pitts as Irene Hendricks, the first woman Flight Director, replaced Gene Kranz on the White Team
  • Dan Warner as Air Force General Arthur Weber (season 1), military liaison to NASA
  • Lenny Jacobson as Wayne Cobb, Molly’s pot smoking artist husband
  • Mark Ivanir as Mikhail Mikhailovich Vasiliev, a Soviet cosmonaut
  • Teya Patt as Emma (season 2), Margo’s new assistant
  • John Marshall Jones as Air Force General Nelson Bradford (season 2), military liaison to NASA
  • Scott Michael Campbell as Alex Rossi (season 2), commander of Jamestown Moon Base after relieving Ellen Wilson in 1983
  • Michaela Conlin as Marine pilot and astronaut Helena Webster (season 2)
  • Charlie Schlatter as Paul Michaels, news anchor (Season 2)

Historical figures

  • Chris Agos as Buzz Aldrin
  • Matt Battaglia as John Glenn
  • Chris Bauer as Deke Slayton
  • Jeff Branson as Neil Armstrong
  • Dan Donohue as Thomas O. Paine
  • Colm Feore as Wernher von Braun
  • Ryan Kennedy as Michael Collins
  • Eric Ladin as Gene Kranz
  • Steven Pritchard as Pete Conrad
  • Rebecca Wisocky as Marge Slayton
  • Ben Begley as Charlie Duke
  • Saul Rubinek as Charles Sandman
  • Bjørn Alexander as Wubbo Ockels
  • Frank Borman as himself (stock footage)
  • Jim Lovell as himself (stock footage)
  • Alan Shepard as himself (stock footage)
  • Gus Grissom as himself (stock footage)
  • Scott Carpenter as himself (stock footage)
  • Gordo Cooper as himself (stock footage)
  • John Lennon as himself (stock footage)
  • Wally Schirra as himself (stock footage)
  • Richard Nixon as himself (stock footage)
  • Henry Kissinger as himself (stock footage)
  • Ted Kennedy as himself (stock footage)
  • Tom Lehrer as himself (stock footage)
  • Ronald Reagan as himself (stock footage)

Episodes

Series overview

Season Episodes Originally released
First released Last released
1 10 November 1, 2019 December 20, 2019
2 10 February 19, 2021 April 23, 2021

Season 1 (2019)

No.
overall
No. in
season
Title Directed by Written by Original release date
1 1 “Red Moon” Seth Gordon Story by : Ronald D. Moore & Matt Wolpert & Ben Nedivi
Teleplay by : Ronald D. Moore
November 1, 2019
Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov becomes the first man on the Moon in June 1969, causing a rush at NASA for an American moon landing. While blowing off steam at a bar with some friends after the landing, astronaut-in-training Edward Baldwin admits to a reporter, while drunk, that he thinks NASA could’ve done more to put an American on the Moon first. Baldwin is reassigned by Wernher Von Braun from flight duty after his comments become public. A month later, after tensions have risen, Apollo 11 surprisingly crash lands on the Moon and loses contact with NASA, but after more than four hours, Armstrong and Aldrin survive the crash and reestablish contact. After the successful landing, Baldwin hopes to be reestablished as an astronaut on Apollo 15 and Gordo’s family also watches the launch at a party. Meanwhile, a Mexican family listening to the launch over a radio escapes their country and crosses the border into USA.
2 2 “He Built the Saturn V” Seth Gordon Matt Wolpert & Ben Nedivi November 1, 2019
The crew of Apollo 11 successfully return from the Moon. Director Wernher von Braun opposes President Nixon’s directive to build a military Moon base. Representative Sandman tells Baldwin that if he publicly criticizes von Braun about the aborted Apollo 10 landing, Nixon will reinstate him as an active astronaut on Apollo 15. Instead, confusing and angering Sandman, Baldwin defends von Braun, but Nixon’s men use his past involvement with the Nazi regime to remove him as Deputy Associate Administrator for Planning. Margo confronts von Braun about his past, and he defends his choices, much to her disappointment. Deke Slayton reinstates Baldwin as commander of Apollo 15 even though he didn’t do what Sandman wanted. During the Apollo 12 mission, as the rocket ship launches, the Soviet Union lands the first woman on the Moon, much to the shock of everybody in flight control.
3 3 “Nixon’s Women” Allen Coulter Nichole Beattie November 1, 2019
Deke Slayton must recruit female astronauts after the Soviet Union lands a woman, Anastasia Belikova, on the Moon. An elimination process winnows the initial field of 20 “Astronaut Candidates” (informally “ASCANs”) to just five, including Tracy Stevens (wife of Apollo 15’s Gordo Stevens), two of the last of Mercury 13 named Molly Cobb and Patty Doyle, a black woman named Danielle Poole, who works as a NASA computer (the term used for humans who performed computations), and a woman named Ellen Waverly. NASA probes find water on the moon, highlighting a spot to put the American Moon Base. During a training session, on a 20-mile hike, Tracy assists an injured Ellen and helps her to the finish line at the risk of not completing it herself. While driving out of the city, Gordo spots smoke and returns to the NASA base, where he finds a lunar module simulation on fire. Tracy meets him and reveals that Patty Doyle has died.
4 4 “Prime Crew” Allen Coulter Naren Shankar November 8, 2019
After NASA scientists discover that there could be patches of ice on the Moon, which had the potential of being turned into rocket fuel, a Soviet mission goes bad and crashes on the Moon, killing a cosmonaut. The equipment they had appears to have been to help establish a Moon base near the frozen water source. This pushes NASA to speed up their Moon base even more. It is mentioned that the presidential election is coming up and Ted Kennedy is the front runner for the Democratic Party. The Vietnam war ends. Deke Slayton makes a change to the Apollo 15 crew, replacing Gordo Stevens with Molly Cobb. Stevens wonders what he did wrong and confesses to Tracy, but still wants to celebrate her accomplishments. While training for the Apollo 15 launch, Molly is annoyed with Ed and the other crew member’s sexism and Ed is disapproving of Molly’s boasting. Though she is doubted, Molly performs at the launch, which goes smoothly.
5 5 “Into the Abyss” Sergio Mimica-Gezzan David Weddle & Bradley Thompson November 15, 2019
The crew of Apollo 15 take a significant risk, changing their landing site to land near Shackleton Crater, a promising location for finding water that would be essential to any lunar colonization effort. However, after two days of venturing out onto the surface of the Moon and not finding anything, Molly volunteers to rappel down into a large crater three times the size of the Grand Canyon. They find ice, and return home triumphant. Danielle’s husband returns from fighting in Vietnam, and they have an argument with Gordo Stevens, ending with Danielle warning Gordo to stay away, reminding him that she only wanted for her husband to have a nice lunch. After initial fighting and doubt, Karen and Molly’s husband Wayne reveal their fears to each other. The episode ends with the Jamestown landing two years later on October 12, 1973, to become NASA’s first Moon base.
6 6 “Home Again” Sergio Mimica-Gezzan Stephanie Shannon November 22, 2019
On August 24, 1974 Jamestown Base has three people in it: Edward Baldwin, Gordo Stevens and Danielle Poole. The Equal Rights Act is ratified as an amendment to the Constitution as a result of campaigning by President Ted Kennedy. Apollo 23 explodes on the launchpad, killing 11 members of the ground crew and Gene Kranz, the new Director of Johnson Space Center. 60 days later the USSR announces the establishment of a Soviet Moon base named Zvezda, located eight miles (13 km) away from Jamestown Base. Margo notices Aleida working on her math homework. The FBI investigation on Apollo 23 starts to focus on Ellen’s homosexuality. Margo blackmails NASA into making her a Flight Director. Richard Nixon is pardoned for the Watergate scandal by newly elected President Ted Kennedy. Gordo sees some unexplained red flashing lights near Jamestown Base.
7 7 “Hi Bob” Meera Menon Ronald D. Moore November 28, 2019
NASA has replaced the component that caused the Apollo 23 accident but the Apollo 24 relief mission is continually delayed for different reasons involving the wrongful production and manufacturing of the Saturn V. This causes Gordo mental health problems. Ed eventually decides that Gordo should be evacuated back to Earth with Danielle, knowing Gordo would be prevented from ever flying again. Danielle deliberately breaks her arm, providing an excuse for Gordo to bring her back to Earth without revealing his psychological issues. Danielle’s husband is unable to get a job. After harsh interrogations by the FBI, Ellen and Larry choose to get married to avoid a potential sex scandal, though Pam, Ellen’s lover and a barkeeper, tells her they are over if she accepts the proposal. Ed’s son, Shane is in trouble at school, and Karen is harsh on him as punishment. Shane sneaks out after being grounded but is hit by a car, as Karen is told.
8 8 “Rupture” Meera Menon Nichole Beattie December 6, 2019
Back on Earth, Gordo is seeing a psychiatrist, without NASA’s knowledge, and Danielle worries that his ambitions to publicly reveal that Danielle broke her arm for him will get her grounded by officials. Shane Baldwin’s accident leaves him brain dead, with a head injury from which he cannot recover. Karen frantically holds out hope, but after NASA scientist Weddler informs her that Shane is beyond hope, she takes him off the respirator. Karen decides that Ed should not know about Shane’s accident. Ed is told to spy on the Soviet base, and then discovers a Soviet camera has been recording him working inside the crater. The Soviets send Ed a condolences message, confusing him, until Karen reveals that Shane is dead. Ed destroys the Soviet camera. Aleida is given a scholarship for Maths and Physics, but when she chooses not to accept so as not to leave her friends and new boyfriend, Octavio becomes mad.
9 9 “Bent Bird” John Dahl David Weddle & Bradley Thompson December 13, 2019
Karen struggles to cope with Shane’s death but finds comfort with Wayne. Apollo 24 has a technical failure while in orbit so they can’t transit to Moon. Apollo 25 (with Dennis, Tracy, and Molly) launches quickly to fix Apollo 24, but just after the repairs are finished, when they run a self-test, Apollo 24’s engines ignite prematurely and burn Harrison Liu to death while leaving Molly adrift. On Apollo 24, Ellen is knocked out and Deke’s status is unknown as he was outside tethered to the spacecraft. Molly is rescued, but the accident results in a trajectory change which will cause Apollo 24 to miss the Moon and fly into deep space. Tensions escalate between the rival lunar explorers, and the Soviets investigate the US Moon mine. Octavio is uncovered as an illegal immigrant and is apprehended by the authorities. Later, without enough oxygen to return to his base, a cosmonaut asks for help at Jamestown. Ed invites him in, but depressurizes the airlock.
10 10 “A City upon a Hill” John Dahl Matt Wolpert & Ben Nedivi December 20, 2019
Apollo 24’s S-IVB burns to depletion sending the spacecraft way off course. Ed interrogates the cosmonaut. NASA continues attempts to regain contact with Apollo 24. Ellen and Deke perform a burn using the service module engine to correct their course but their fuel supplies are depleted before the course correction is complete. Ed launches the Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM) with help from the cosmonaut to perform a rescue of Apollo 24 and capture the spacecraft into Lunar orbit. Unfortunately, the spacecraft is tumbling, making it nearly impossible for Ed to dock. Instead of docking, Ellen suggests Ed throw the fuel capsule to Apollo 24. Ellen misses it at first but then lunges toward it, capturing it. Deke dies from internal bleeding as the rescue mission is completed. In a post-credits scene in 1983 Ed and Karen discuss a live coverage from the South Pacific Ocean showing a sea launch of an extremely large rocket similar to the Sea Dragon carrying a payload for expansion of the Jamestown colony.

Season 2 (2021)

No.
overall
No. in
season
Title  Directed by Written by  Original release date 
11 1 “Every Little Thing” Michael Morris Ronald D. Moore February 19, 2021
Almost a decade later, Jamestown has expanded to accommodate more astronauts and equipment. Ed is Chief of the Astronaut Office, Karen runs The Outpost and they have adopted a daughter, Kelly, who works with Karen. At Jamestown, Ellen looks forward to handing over the reins and returning home. On the ground, Tracy announces her marriage to another man on live television, blindsiding her ex-husband Gordo. At NASA, a huge solar flare and a fast-moving solar storm cause problems on Earth, on Skylab and at Jamestown. Without the safety of the Van Allen Belt and Earth’s atmosphere, astronauts are forced to shelter and wait it out. All successfully do so except for two still out on the Moon’s surface. Molly finds shelter in a lava tube but learns via telescope her colleague has crashed nearby. She refuses to leave him out so she leaves the relative safety of the lava tube to go and rescue him as the solar storm hits the Moon, leaving her radiation wristband behind in the process. She returns to the lava tube with her colleague, who is alive but sustained a huge dose of radiation.
12 2 “The Bleeding Edge” Michael Morris Matt Wolpert & Ben Nedivi February 26, 2021
Molly lies to Ellen about going out to rescue Wubbo, but Ellen cautiously takes them both back to Earth with her. On the ground, a heroes welcome awaits but Molly is affected by her exposure to harmful proton radiation. Ellen begins a new post as Deputy NASA Administrator and tries to resist calls to cut funding to the Mars programme while Margot is given a task which could de-escalate tensions between the US and the Soviets yet possibly compromise classified NASA technology. Meanwhile, Kelly looks at college brochures for Annapolis and quizzes Tracy and Gordo’s eldest son, who is on leave from there, for information. Danielle asks to go back to the Moon during a catch-up with fellow Jamestown pioneers Ed and Gordo. After a family reunion, however, Gordo hits the drink forcing Karen to get Ed to come to the Outpost to intervene. As he walks his friend home, Gordo drunkenly confesses to Ed he feels he left behind a piece of himself on the Moon; he feels lost and an embarrassment to his boys. Ed assigns Danielle and Gordo to the next Moon mission.
13 3 “Rules of Engagement” Andrew Stanton Stephanie Shannon March 5, 2021
The Americans send guns to the Moon to take a mining site back from the Soviets after Ed realizes they bugged the base 10 years ago. Margo attempts to reconcile with Aleida by offering her a Systems Engineer position at NASA after learning from Aleida’s boyfriend, Davey, that she will be deported if she cannot hold a job, confronting her after almost a decade. Aleida refuses to accept the job, not wanting to be embarrassed as she has been fired from all her past jobs for behavioral issues, though her past bosses have complemented her skills and engineering. Davey convinces her to take the job, but she breaks up with him for going behind her back. Tracy’s escapade in The Outpost ends with her calling for Gordo’s help, fueling their feud that may further affect their mission assignments. Kelly makes it clear that she wants to attend the Naval Academy in Annapolis. Karen comes to terms with this, but Ed becomes furious, not wanting to lose Kelly like he lost Shane. They eventually realize that they need to let Kelly live her own life and allow her to attend the academy.
14 4 “Pathfinder” Andrew Stanton David Weddle & Bradley Thompson March 12, 2021
Ed appoints himself to Mission Commander for the next generation Space Shuttle “Pathfinder”, after Karen encouraged him to go back to space now that Kelly is going to Annapolis. Ed asks Molly Cobb to assume his position as Chief of the Astronaut Office, and she accepts. Danielle Poole visits her inlaws after Clayton’s suicide, and after exchanging personal effects, they argue, and Danielle realizes that she is missing out on opportunities, and later confronts Ed on his last day demanding Mission Commander status. Shortly afterwards, Ed is called into his final meeting, where he announces she will be commanding an Apollo-Soyuz rendezvous mission. Gordo experiences anxiety about the mission, and experienced a panic attack when the helmet was sealed on his spacesuit, and later believes he is hallucinating. Ed reassures him that he is ready for the mission in a terse conversation prior to both astronauts flying to Cape Canaveral. During the flight, Ed challenges Gordo to a dogfight, and after high G maneuvers, Ed’s aircraft experiences a flameout of an engine, and he ejects into the Gulf of Mexico.
15 5 “The Weight” Meera Menon Nichole Beattie & Joe Menosky March 19, 2021
After Karen’s initial emotional turmoil regarding Ed’s accident, she avoids much discussion of it even once he returns home safely. Ed and Gordo are given a stern warning by Molly despite Harold and Margo’s plea for a harsher punishment. After an awkward reception at the Jamestown base, Tracy is introduced to the resident illegal distiller of Ethanol during a tour. Just one month into her six-month mission the vent noise, cigarette cravings, and monotony drive Tracy to cover her vent, smoke in the old airlock, and take up drinking. This causes a base-wide CO2 alert where all is revealed. She is almost sent home but is given a second chance on the condition that her special treatment ends and is given double shifts. Molly starts having trouble with her vision. Aleida is given a mildly condescending welcome to NASA as a rookie engineer on the Apollo-Soyuz project. Ellen visits a poetry reading of Pam’s and, despite being surprised by Pam’s new girlfriend, agrees to meet for drinks at The Outpost which leads to them having sex. Gordo battles to overcome his claustrophobia and poor fitness. A mission is sent to Jamestown with firearms.
16 6 “Best Laid Plans” Meera Menon Joe Menosky March 26, 2021
17 7 “Don’t Be Cruel” Dennie Gordon Nichole Beattie April 2, 2021
18 8 “And Here’s to You” Dennie Gordon Ronald D. Moore April 9, 2021
19 9 “Triage” Sergio Mimica-Gezzan Bradley Thompson & David Weddle April 16, 2021
20 10 “The Grey” Sergio Mimica-Gezzan Matt Wolpert & Ben Nedivi April 23, 2021

Production

Development

According to Ronald D. Moore, the idea of the show came about during lunch with former NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman, when they discussed the possibility of an alternate history in which the Soviets reached the Moon before the Americans. On December 15, 2017, it was announced that Apple had given the production a one-season series order. The series was created by Ronald D. Moore, Matt Wolpert, and Ben Nedivi. Maril Davis serves as executive producer alongside Moore, Wolpert, and Nedivi. Production companies involved with the series include Sony Pictures Television and Tall Ship Productions. On October 5, 2018, it was announced that the series had been officially titled For All Mankind. The series was renewed for a second season in October 2019. On November 19, 2020, it was announced that the second season would premiere on February 19, 2021. On December 8, 2020, ahead of the second season premiere, Apple TV+ renewed the series for a third season.

Casting

In August 2018, it was announced that Joel Kinnaman, Michael Dorman, Sarah Jones, Shantel VanSanten, and Wrenn Schmidt had been cast in main roles and that Eric Ladin, Arturo Del Puerto, and Rebecca Wisocky would appear in a recurring capacity. On October 5, 2018, it was reported that Jodi Balfour had been cast in a series regular role. On November 19, 2020, Cynthy Wu, Coral Peña and Casey W. Johnson had been cast in main roles for the second season. Also, Krys Marshall and Sonya Walger were promoted to the main cast for the second season. On December 16, 2020, Michaela Conlin joined the cast in a supporting role for the second season.

Filming

Principal photography for the series commenced in August 2018 in Los Angeles, California. In March 2019, The New York Times reported that filming had concluded. The filming for the second season began on December 24, 2019. On August 17, 2020, production on second season resumed after the COVID-19 halt, and the final two episodes were filmed. Filming for the third season began on February 25, 2021.

Release

The first season of For All Mankind premiered on Apple TV+ on November 1, 2019, and ran for 10 episodes until December 20, 2019. Ahead of the first season premiere, the streaming network renewed the show for a second season, which premiered on February 19, 2021, as announced in November 2020, and consist of 10 more episodes, releasing weekly until April 23, 2021.

Marketing

On February 11, 2021, ahead of the season two premiere, Apple released an augmented reality iOS application on the App Store called For All Mankind: Time Capsule. The application walks users through the decade-long gap between seasons one and two, showing the relationship between astronauts Gordo and Tracy Stevens, and their son Danny Stevens.

For season two, Apple released a podcast titled For All Mankind: The Official Podcast, produced in partnership with At Will Media, releasing every two weeks starting February 19, 2021. It is hosted by Krys Marshall, who plays Danielle Poole, and features behind-the-scenes looks and interviews with scientists, former astronauts, and the cast and crew of For All Mankind.

Reception

Critical reception for For All Mankind
Season Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic
1 73% (52 reviews) 65 (22 reviews)
2 100% (14 reviews) 75 (7 reviews)

The first season of For All Mankind received generally positive reviews. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 73% approval rating with an average rating of 6.91/10, based on 52 reviews. The website’s critical consensus reads, “Though it shoots for the moon and falls somewhere in orbit, For All Mankinds impressive vision of history has the potential for real liftoff if it leans into the things that set it apart instead of settling for more of the same.” Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 65 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating “generally favorable reviews”.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 7.56/10, based on 14 reviews. The website’s critical consensus reads, “For All Mankinds sophomore flight isn’t without its hiccups, but compelling character work and a renewed sense of wonder make for thrilling viewing.” On Metacritic, it has a weighted score of 75 out of 100 based on 7 reviews, indicating “generally favorable reviews”.

For All Mankind was nominated for Best New TV Series in the 2019 IGN Summer Movie Awards.

Soundtrack

Season 1

Apple Music Playlist

  • “For All Mankind Main Title” by Jeff Russo
  • “Put a Lid on It” by Squirrel Nut Zippers
  • “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” by Jimmy Ruffin
  • “Shotgun” by Junior Walker & The All Stars
  • “Guilty” by Herb Johnson
  • “It’s Your Thing” by The Isley Brothers
  • “Street Fighting Man (Remastered)” by The Rolling Stones
  • “Kiss My Tears Away” by The Fabulous Terrifics
  • “I Didn’t See You Standing There” by Dick Flood & The Pathfinders
  • “Ring-A-Ding-Ding” by Frank Sinatra
  • “Wernher Von Braun” by Tom Lehrer
  • “Funk #49” by James Gang
  • “You Can’t Catch Me” by Chuck Berry
  • “Come On In” by The Association
  • “As Good as You’ve Been to This World” by Janis Joplin
  • “The Strength and the Power of Your Love” by Abigail Dibble
  • “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” by Ananda Shankar
  • “My Old Boy” by Pulse
  • “You Can’t Catch Me” by The Rolling Stones
  • “In so Many Ways” by Birdlegs & Pauline
  • “Slumberland Blues” by Pugsley Munion
  • “Morning Dew” by Grateful Dead
  • “A Call for All Demons” by Sun Ra & His Myth Science Arkestra
  • “The World Song” by Petula Clark
  • “American Woman” by The Guess Who
  • “Moonage Daydream” by David Bowie
  • “You Keep Hanging up on My Mind” by Wendy & Bonnie
  • “A Kiss to Build a Dream On (Single)” by Louis Armstrong
  • “Remember Me” by Herb Johnson
  • “I Just Want To Celebrate” by Rare Earth
  • “One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)” by Frank Sinatra
  • “I Knew Her Well” by Sandy Harless
  • “Drift Away” by Dobie Gray
  • “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” by Frank Sinatra
  • “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” by Dawn
  • “A Horse With No Name” by America
  • “Afrikaan Beat” by Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra
  • “Xmas Commercial Blues (feat. Al Johnson & Soul-Jers)” by Nancy Lee
  • “Someday Never Comes” by Creedence Clearwater Revival
  • “Howlin’ at the Moon (Single Version)” by Hank Williams
  • “Mr. Santa Claus (Santa Claus Helping Hand)” by Richard Marks
  • “Mi Margarita” by Francisco Cendejas
  • “Dream Lover” by Bobby Darin
  • “My Way” by Frank Sinatra
  • “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” by Elvis Presley
  • “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears

Original Soundtrack

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. “For All Mankind Main Title” Jeff Russo 1:20
2. “For All Jazz-Kind” Jeff Russo 4:02
3. “Race to the Moon (Piano Suite)” Jeff Russo 6:11
4. “Moon” Jeff Russo 0:39
5. “Heading for the Landing” Jeff Russo 2:39
6. “Heroes” Jeff Russo 2:24
7. “Hurry to Watch” Jeff Russo 1:30
8. “Karen and Ed” Jeff Russo 1:26
9. “Water, Pt. 1” Jeff Russo 2:32
10. “Moon Miss America” Jeff Russo 3:42
11. “Lower Molly” Jeff Russo 3:08
12. “Water, Pt. 2” Jeff Russo 7:41
13. “Questioned on Tape” Jeff Russo 2:30
14. “Ants” Jeff Russo 3:08
15. “Armed Booster / Another Ship” Jeff Russo 10:43
16. “Lonely Research” Jeff Russo 3:01
17. “Ellen and Deke In Trouble” Jeff Russo 3:02
18. “Career Over / No Russians” Jeff Russo 1:49
19. “Landing” Jeff Russo 4:01
20. “Smoke” Jeff Russo 2:29
21. “Von Braun” Jeff Russo 2:19
22. “Flight Director” Jeff Russo 1:30
23. “Lit Match” Jeff Russo 1:39
24. “Command Module Cobb” Jeff Russo 1:02
25. “Tribunal” Jeff Russo 3:28
26. “Woman on the Moon” Jeff Russo 3:04

Season 2

Apple Music Playlist

  • “Well Well Well” by John Lennon
  • “Middle of the Road” by Pretenders
  • “All You Need Is Love” by The Beatles
  • “Back In Black” by AC/DC
  • ”Roll With the Changes” by REO Speedwagon
  • “I Fought the Law” by the Clash
  • ‘Don’t Be Cruel” by Billy Swan
  • “The Unforgiven” by Goldberg
  • “7-11” by Ramones
  • “My City Was Gone” by Pretenders
  • “Retrospect” by Sun Ra and His Arkestra
  • ”Warm Tenor” by Max Raffeng and his Sextet
  • ”Requiem Mass in D Minor, K. 626: I. Introitus, Requiem Aeternam” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  • ”Ticket for the Sky” by Blitz Girls
  • ”Workin’ for a Livin’” by Huey Lewis & The News
  • “Don’t Be Cruel” by Elvis Presley
  • “Shake Some Action” by Flamin’ Groovies
  • “Lonely Hearts Lover” by Gina Samuels
  • “The Weight” by the Band
  • “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” by Frank Sinatra
  • “Feels Like Heaven” by Inger Lise
  • ”I’m a Ramblin’ Man” by Waylon Jennings
  • ”Working for the Weekend” by Loverboy
  • ”True” by Spandau Ballet
  • ”Downtown Sundown” by Thin Lizzy
  • “Walkin’ In Lonely” by Steve Knox
  • ”Whip It” by Devo
  • ”Time Has Come Today” by Ramones
  • ”Eye In the Sky” by The Alan Parsons Project
  • “Snakeskin Seduction” by Ellis Naylor & Jeff Wells
  • ”A Message to You Rudy (feat. Rico)” by The Specials
  • “Girl U Want” by Devo
  • ”Change of Heart” by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
  • “Rockit” by Herbie Hancock
  • ”Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley & The Wailers

Original Soundtrack

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. “Sunrise Transition” Jeff Russo 4:23
2. “Save Wubbo” Jeff Russo 6:59
3. “Molly and Ellen Leave Jamestown” Jeff Russo 2:35
4. “Shane’s Old Room” Jeff Russo 1:51
5. “Baldwin Fight Aftermath” Jeff Russo 4:48
6. “Visiting the Ships” Jeff Russo 2:01
7. “The Donut Room” Jeff Russo 3:29
8. “Margot Jazz Trio Part Deux” Jeff Russo 3:26
9. “First Shot On the Moon” Jeff Russo 3:39
10. “Kelly Was a Heart Transplant” Jeff Russo 2:37
11. “Ed Rocks the Sim” Jeff Russo 1:36
12. “News of the Attack” Jeff Russo 4:26
13. “Dani and the Engineer” Jeff Russo 6:43
14. “Molly’s Flight” Jeff Russo 1:36
15. “Tracy and Gordo landing” Jeff Russo 2:21
16. “Reaching For the Case” Jeff Russo 4:54
17. “Russians!” Jeff Russo 5:07
18. “Sea Dragon” Jeff Russo 4:17
19. “Here We Go” Jeff Russo 1:51
20. “Jamestown” Jeff Russo 5:56
21. “The Run” Jeff Russo 5:11