Apple TV+ enters the constantly growing streaming race this fall, and one of their most anticipated offerings will be the ten-part series ‘For All Mankind’ which imagines a world where the Soviet Union placed the first man on the moon and the space race of the 1960s never ended. ‘For All Mankind’ originates from Ronald D. Moore, who is no stranger to adventures in space, having created the phenomenon ‘Battlestar Galactica‘ in the early 2000s. The new series will include actual historical figures from the ’60s, and Moore worked with actual NASA engineers and astronauts to craft an “alternate history” that is still very much based on real science.
During a conference call with Collider, Moore discussed the appeal of an alternate history project, as well as his lifelong fascination with the space program:
“It was a couple of things. One was just my own personal interest in and passion for the subject. I grew up with the Apollo program, as a kid, and it was really the catalyst for inspiring me to become interested in science fiction, overall. So, it was very important, in my personal life. And when I was growing up, watching the space program in the ‘70s, I thought it was gonna go places. I thought it was gonna go much bigger than it did. I had dreams of moon bases and colonization, and all kinds of things that never came to pass. The idea of doing the history that I never got to see was personally really exciting and interesting to me.
“And then, on a creative level, separate from that, it was also interesting, in the concept of this particular show, to start at the beginning. The Man in the High Castle, and a lot of alternate history pieces, typically throw you into that existing world. On High Castle, the Nazis have already won, the Japanese have already won, and you’re in this other world. This was an opportunity to see it start and see how it developed. And also, the other difference for me is that this particular piece is very aspirational. It’s a very positive idea of a better world that could come about from an alternate history piece. Alternate history, not always, but tends to go to the dark and the dystopian. Terrible things happen and awful things have taken place, and the alternate world is a very dark and brooding one. Ours is going in the opposite direction. It’s a very positive one. It’s like, “Wow, by expanding the space racing and stepping strongly into the universe, the world became a better place, and the nation became a better place.” It’s a very optimistic sort of idea for an alternate history piece.”
While Moore is reimagining an alternate version of the space race, National Geographic is working on ‘The Right Stuff’ a series based on the actual Apollo mission. Could all of this have something to do with the fact that July 20 is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission? Perhaps.
‘For All Mankind’ will be available to stream later this year on Apple TV+.
