For All Mankind

A voyage around the moon must be made in two phases.

A rocket ship taking off from the Earth's surface

will use almost all the fuel it will carry

just to attain a speed great enough to balance the pull of gravity.

Here we have a scale drawing of the Earth with the moon 240,000 miles away.

This is the elliptical path which our rocket ship will follow

going out and coming back.

And then you will use its primary system, the AGS instead of the PGNCS,

for separation and ascent.

Copy all that, Tranquility Base?

Guidance control AGS. Roger, Houston.

We are definitely concerned about stability

once we fire the ascent engine from this canted position.

In the meantime, we're losing extra weight.

I don't like the margins, Wernher.

Getting back to vertical's gonna cost him a lot of ascent fuel.

I mean, they may not be able to rendezvous with Columbia.

The plan is sound, Gene.

Tranquility, you have go for liftoff.

Okay, Buzz. Engine Arm on.

Mike, we'll see you in a bit.

Keep our beers cold for us.

Copy that, Tranquility Base.

Abort Stage.

-Engine Arm, Ascent. -Engine Arm, Ascent.

Here goes nothing.

Ignition.

Houston, we're definitely picking up a little shimmy.

We're leveling out.

The Eagle has wings.

Excuse me...

Good morning, sir.

Green suits you, Emma.

Administrator Paine just arrived, sir.

Hope he's got good news.

-Could use that. -Deke.

I'll catch up.

How much longer do I have to eat shit before you put me back on flight status?

I've been cooling my heels for two damn months now.

Look, it's not only up to me.

You pissed off a lot of people.

I'm never going back up, am I?

Not as long as von Braun's director.

I'm sorry. But you made your bed.

So, what the hell am I supposed to do, just keep pushing paper?

There are worse things.

Yeah, I guess you'd know, wouldn't ya?

Watch it, Ed.

It's from a trusted source in the Kremlin.

And if this is even close to ready...

It's merely blueprints.

I have hundreds of blueprints. It means nothing.

We can't afford to be cautious now, Wernher.

This is the new front in the Cold War.

If the Soviets are gonna build a lunar military outpost up there,

the president wants one too, and he wants it first.

He can't be serious.

Frankly, I've never seen him more serious.

We're talking a major realignment of priorities here.

We may have lost the moon, but we can still win the race for the base.

"Race for the base"?

Catchy, right?

Your testimony before the committee

is the perfect time to unveil NASA's new strategy.

Beginning with Apollo 12,

we will be scouting for the location

of a permanent military installation on the moon.

Absolutely not.

We're a scientific program, not a playground for G.I. Joe.

Wernher. This is a good thing.

Nixon's doubling down on the program.

Our budgets will go up exponentially.

We can bring in three, four more classes of astronauts.

What do you think, Deke?

Well, I could sure use the extra manpower,

but I don't know, 12's flight is right around the corner.

Yeah. We may need to move that up a tad.

Thomas, listen to me.

We cannot allow this encroachment.

I've seen it before.

My Aggregat 4, it was designed for low-Earth orbit.

When the Wehrmacht saw its potential, it became the V-2, a terrible weapon.

We cannot allow space to become another battlefield.

It already is.

If we don't respond in kind, we'll be sitting ducks.

I will not watch, yet again, as my work is defiled by men with guns.

This isn't Germany, Wernher.

Dick Nixon's been fighting communists for 30 years,

and a red moon isn't something our nation can accept.

Red moon, blue moon, green moon. Enough with this nonsense.

This is happening.

I suggest you get on the train before it runs you over.

Who does he think he is,

to say "no" to the President of the United States?

If I say put a military base on the moon, that's it.

End of story.

I want that Kraut bastard gone.

I'm afraid he is quite untouchable, Mr. President.

A beloved figure... he taught the country about space travel.

Well, then,

we'll have to get creative now, won't we?

I miss the barbecue back in Huntsville.

Maybe it's time to retire. Go back to Alabama.

Yeah. You could sit on your porch.

Smoke your pipe.

Maybe take up painting?

Besides, who would I eat lunch with?

I don't know.

Perhaps a handsome young suitor?

We're doing this again? You know I don't have time.

Yes. You're a very busy young woman.

I heard about this interview of yours with Gene.

I was going to tell you. I just wanted--

Wanted to do it yourself. I know.

You worry too much about what others might think, Margo.

You always have.

The boys couldn't stop talking about that Apollo 11 landing.

Good old-fashioned controlled crash.

Yeah, Neil's a good stick.

Though I still think your landing on the Kearsarge,

outta that Dutch roll, takes the cake.

So when you going back up, Ed? 15, right?

Well. It's unclear at the moment.

Sort of why I asked you to come grab a beer.

I've been thinking about maybe moving back navy side.

Yeah, right.

Now why on God's green earth would you wanna do something like that?

Pilots become astronauts, Ed. Not the other way around.

Well, the only thing I've been flying lately is a desk.

This about that article?

Yeah.

You always did have a way of pissing off your superior officers.

Present company included.

But you're also one of the best aviators I've ever seen.

"One of"?

Don't be a smart-ass.

Navy would just about shit themselves though to get a guy like you back.

Especially now. We're making a big push in Vietnam.

Could be the turning point in the war.

And that means commanding a squadron or--

Squadron?

You'd probably get command of an entire air wing.

And wait till you fly this new Phantom.

Puts those Panthers we flew in Korea to shame.

It's a fire-breathing beast, Ed.

I'm sorry, Ed.

It's just, I can't.

Ed. I can't get another phone call that your plane was shot down.

I mean, every time the phone rang, my heart just fell.

I coulda gotten killed just as easily going up on 10.

Yeah. Well, at least you weren't being shot at.

It's what I signed up for, Karen.

No, Ed. It's what we signed up for.

Remember?

Oh, my God, would you just--

Cut that out. You're making a mess of things.

While in Washington, the political fallout from the Soviet moon landing continues,

as a joint congressional committee looks deeper

into the alleged failures of the space program.

Administrator Thomas Paine grilled by Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts,

who's quickly established himself as a leading voice on the committee

questioning President Nixon's leadership.

And how, sir, do you justify canceling production of the Saturn V rocket

a full year before Apollo 11?

It was part of a broader--

These were drastic reductions of NASA's funding by President Nixon.

Excuse me. That's not accurate, Senator.

The president is fully committed to the space program.

Yeah.

Hey.

Where'd you put those vacuum tubes? TV's fritzing again.

Jesus.

I don't know. Maybe...

What time is it?

Tell me you're not still drunk.

Hey, no, baby, I'm... just beat, is all.

They're really working us down here.

You know I hate being away from you and the kiddos.

Yeah. I'm sure it's just torture.

Mine, give it back!

Hey! Daniel, Jimmy!

Anything you put on that floor, you will pick up. Are we clear?

Hey, you tell Danny that I said--

Listen to his mom, yeah. Tell him I said that, hon.

Okay.

Guess I'll see you soon.

Hey, Trace.

I love you.

Look, I know you're smart, Margo.

But it gets intense down there.

They call it the trench for a reason.

I need to know you're not some pogue

who's gonna wilt at the first sign of pressure.

No, sir. That wouldn't be--

I've had guys on FIDO, solid guys,

damn near piss their pants during a rocky re-entry.

Well, sir...

I don't wear pants.

That is a fact.

Dr. von Braun sure thinks the world of you.