For All Mankind

In an alternate timeline in 1969, Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov becomes the first human to land on the Moon. This outcome devastates morale at NASA but also catalyzes a U.S. effort to catch up. With the Soviet Union emphasizing equality by including a woman in subsequent landings, the United States is forced to match pace, equally training women and ethnic minorities (who were largely excluded from the initial decades of U.S. space exploration). Pushed by higher competition, the Soviet and other blocs favor more competent leaders, modernizing earlier and on more rational ground. With sustained investments in technology, a broad, sustained, and global technological race takes place, with a wide range of dramatic civilian effects, such as early civil rights, electric vehicles, civilian fusion power, controlled CO2 production, and no climate crisis. Each subsequent season takes place about a decade later, with season two taking place in the 1980s, season three taking place in the 1990s, season four taking place in the 2000s, and season five taking place in the 2010s. Ronald D. Moore explained how historical reality had been different from the series: "Sergei Korolev was the father of the Soviet space program; in our reality, he died during an operation in Moscow (in 1966) ... And after that point, their Moon program really never pulled together.... Our point of divergence was that Korolev lives, ... and he made their Moon landing happen."

Plot from For All Mankind (TV series)CC BY-SA 4.0