Main characters
Edward Baldwin
- Portrayed by Joel Kinnaman
USN Rear Admiral Edward "Ed" Baldwin, an astronaut. He was the commander of Gemini 7, Apollo 10, Apollo 15, Apollo 22, Pathfinder and Phoenix. He was the husband of Karen Baldwin and raised two children with her, Shane and Kelly, with the latter being adopted from Vietnam in the 1970s.
During Apollo 10, which was intended as a test run for Apollo 11, Ed and Gordo Stevens, his best friend and fellow astronaut, were only eight miles away from the Moon, but were instructed by NASA not to land. After the Soviets then landed on the Moon before Apollo 11, Ed and Gordo were widely criticised by the media, but Ed deflected the blame onto NASA, claiming that "NASA doesn't have guts anymore". He was then removed from Apollo 15 as a consequence of the interview, but was later reinstated as commander by Deke Slayton. At the same time, he also worked as an instructor and trained "Nixon's Women", a program that was started in response to the Soviets landing cosmonaut Anastasia Belikova on the Moon. Alongside Gordo and Danielle Poole, Ed was on the Moon with Apollo 22 when Apollo 23 exploded on the launchpad, extending their stay on the Moon until Apollo 24 would be ready. Ed is eventually left alone on the Moon after Gordo and Danielle are forced to return to Earth due to a medical emergency; the Soviets had their base only a few miles away from Jamestown, forcing someone to remain at Jamestown. In the meantime, Ed's son Shane had died in a car accident, which NASA decided to keep secret from Ed as they feared the news would have a major impact on his mental state along with the isolation. However, the Soviets leaked the news to him, after which he shuts off all communication with Earth. Shortly after, one of the Soviet cosmonauts, Mikhail Vasiliev, arrived at Jamestown and asked to be let in, as he did not have enough oxygen to return to his own base. Ed decided to trust him and obliged, however in the 1980s it is revealed that Vasiliev had placed a listening device in Jamestown. Vasiliev convinced Ed to answer NASA's calls and later helped him to prepare for the arrival of Apollo 24. The mission was a success and Ed returned to Earth while Ellen Wilson takes over Jamestown.
By 1983, Ed had been promoted to rear admiral and worked as Chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA. He then assigned himself as the commander of the Pathfinder mission, which was meant to escort the Sea Dragon resupply mission to Jamestown. During the mission, an incident occurred on the Moon where two of the Soviet cosmonauts were shot by US "moon marines". The Soviet Union declared a blockade on the Moon and threatened to shoot down Sea Dragon if they did not abort their mission. Ed threatened to fire back and destroy Buran, the Soviet shuttle, but Sally Ride, one of his crew members, refused to activate the weapon systems. He relieved her of her duties and she pulled a gun on him to force him back, but he ignored her threats and told her that he knows she won't shoot him. Ed activated the weapon systems but reconsidered Sally's warning that there must be another solution. He then decided to shoot down Sea Dragon himself, as to prevent the Soviets from committing an action of war by letting them destroy an American shuttle.
In 1992, Ed left NASA after not being selected as commander of the Mars mission. Instead he joined Helios Aerospace, a private space company, to command their Mars mission. He decided to take Danny Stevens—Gordo's son—with him, despite the warnings Danielle warning him of Danny's instability. After reaching Mars, Ed and Danny attempted to land during a heavy dust storm. Being ahead of NASA's Sojourner–1, he now had the chance to become the first human on Mars, but after nearly hitting a mountain and looking at Danny beside him, he decided to abort the mission, unwilling to be responsible for Danny's death. His decision allowed Sojourner 1, led by Danielle, to land first. After a landslide destroyed most of Helios' equipment and killed multiple astronauts and cosmonauts, Helios, NASA, and Roscosmos banded together for a joint mission to return the survivors to Earth. Meanwhile, Ed's daughter Kelly had started an affair with cosmonaut Alexei Poletov, who died in the landslide, and got pregnant. After months of repairing their equipment, Kelly had to be brought on board the Phoenix, Helios' ship in the Mars orbit, as soon as possible to save the baby, but as they had not produced enough fuel yet, only Kelly alone could be sent to Phoenix. Ed and the remaining survivors decided to stay on Mars and wait for a rescue mission, while Kelly and the Phoenix flew back to Earth. Ed flew Kelly towards the Phoenix with the repaired Landing Module and then managed to crash-land the Module back on Mars.
Ed is based on Apollo 10 commander Thomas P. Stafford. [4]
Gordo Stevens
- Portrayed by Michael Dorman (seasons 1–2)
USN Captain Gordon "Gordo" Stevens, an astronaut. He was the Lunar Module pilot of Apollo 10, the commander of Apollo 18 and a member of the Apollo 22 crew, also known as Jamestown 2, the second mission that stayed at Jamestown Moon Base and was later stationed on the Base again with Jamestown 91. He was the husband of Tracy Stevens and had two sons with her, Danny and Jimmy.
Gordo flew with his best friend Ed Baldwin for Apollo 10 and was criticised for not taking the opportunity to land on the Moon, which allowed the Soviets to come first. He was scheduled to fly with Ed again for Apollo 15, but was replaced by Molly Cobb and instated as commander of Apollo 18 again. Alongside Ed and also Danielle Poole, Gordo was on the Moon with Apollo 22, when the follow-up mission Apollo 23 exploded on the launchpad, extending their stay on the Moon until Apollo 24 would be ready. During their isolation Gordo suffered from extreme anxiety and hallucinations. The three first decided to keep his condition secret, as NASA would never allow him to fly again if they found out about his episodes of psychosis, but Ed decided to tell Houston the morning after another episode. In the same night, Danielle broke her own arm and they told NASA that it happened as an accident and that Danielle had to fly back to Earth for medical treatment. Gordo accompanied her as pilot, sparing him from him anyone finding out about his mental health problems, while Ed stayed on the Moon, as they could not leave Jamestown uncrewed. Back on Earth, he started seeing a psychologist and also told Tracy what really happened. Gordo later spoke to Danielle and told her that he wanted to reveal the truth to the whole world, that Danielle was the hero, not him, but Danielle told him that it would only ruin both their careers and to keep it secret.
By 1983, Gordo and Tracy had divorced and Gordo let himself go, believing that he would never fly again, but after seeing Ed and Danielle preparing for their missions, he pulled himself back and started working out with the goal to fly to the Moon again. He is eventually selected and returns to the Moon with Jamestown 91, where he also reunited with Tracy. When the Soviet cosmonauts attacked Jamestown to retrieve their captured comrade, Rolan Baranov, who had been shot and brought to Jamestown for medical treatment, Gordo and Tracy were in a chamber, talking about where their marriage went wrong, when they noticed that the inside of Jamestown was depressurized. Although the Soviets had blocked all communication to the Earth, the two managed to contact Houston via an older device from the original Jamestown Base. Margo Madison informed them that the reactor had been damaged and that there would be a nuclear meltdown soon if they did not activate the backup coolant systems. With no way to contact anyone else on Jamestown, the only way to prevent a meltdown was to activate the systems from outside. However, there were no spacesuits in chamber, forcing Gordo and Tracy to make impromptu spacesuits from duct tape, which would only protect them for a few seconds. They ran outside, turned the systems on and managed to make it back into the chamber, but succumbed to their wounds caused by vacuum exposure. They were later found by the remaining astronauts on Jamestown and are posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor and buried at the Arlington National Cemetery.
Gordo is partially based on Apollo 10's lunar module pilot Eugene Cernan [4] and on Mercury Seven astronaut Gordo Cooper. [5]
Tracy Stevens
- Portrayed by Sarah Jones (seasons 1–2)
Tracy Stevens, an astronaut. She was the command module pilot of Apollo 25 and was later stationed on Jamestown Moon Base with Jamestown 89. She was the wife of Gordo Stevens and had two sons with him, Danny and Jimmy.
In 1970, Tracy became an astronaut candidate as one of "Nixon's Women", a program that was started in response to the Soviets landing cosmonaut Anastasia Belikova on the Moon. She was one of four out of twenty women selected for the final program. Following the explosion of Apollo 23, which led to Ed Baldwin being stranded on the Moon, Apollo 24 was sent a few months later to bring Ed back to Earth. However, Apollo 24 had a malfunction while being in orbit and needed a new Saturn V FCC to be repaired. Tracy had already been selected as pilot of Apollo 25, whose original mission was to repair an astronomical satellite in Earth's orbit but changed to help Apollo 24. During the repairs the S-IVB of Apollo 24 accidentally ignited and launched the capsule, killing astronaut Harrison Liu and dragging the still-tethered Apollo 25 with it. Molly Cobb, the commander of Apollo 25, managed to free their ship and was catapulted into space, but Tracy managed to pilot Apollo 25 to catch and save Molly, after which they returned safely to Earth.
By 1983, Gordo and Tracy had divorced and Tracy had remarried. She returned to the Moon with Jamestown 89, where she reunited with Gordo, who arrived a while later with Jamestown 91. When the Soviet cosmonauts attacked Jamestown to retrieve their captured comrade, Rolan Baranov, who had been shot and brought to Jamestown for medical treatment, Gordo and Tracy were in a chamber, talking about where their marriage went wrong, when they noticed that the inside of Jamestown was depressurized. Although the Soviets had blocked all communication to the Earth, the two managed to contact Houston via an older device from the original Jamestown Base. Margo informed them that the reactor had been damaged and that there would be a nuclear meltdown soon if they did not activate the backup coolant systems. With no way to contact anyone else on Jamestown, the only way to prevent a meltdown was to activate the systems from outside. However, there were no spacesuits in chamber, forcing Gordo and Tracy to make impromptu spacesuits from duct tape, which would only protect them for a few seconds. They ran outside, turned the systems on and managed to make it back into the chamber, but succumbed to their wounds caused by vacuum exposure. They were later found by the remaining astronauts on Jamestown and are posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor and buried at the Arlington National Cemetery.
Tracy is partially based on Trudy Olsen Cooper, a licensed pilot and the former wife of Mercury Seven astronaut Gordon Cooper. [5]
Karen Baldwin
- Portrayed by Shantel VanSanten (seasons 1–3; guest season 4)
Karen Baldwin, Ed's wife with whom she had two children, Shane and Kelly, with the latter being adopted from Vietnam in the 1970s.
In the 1970s, Karen often took care of Tracy's and Gordo's two sons Danny and Jimmy after Tracy followed her husband into the astronaut program. At the same time, she also developed a friendship with Wayne Cobb, husband of Tracy's fellow astronaut Molly Cobb, bonding over being the partners of astronauts. After Shane's death in a car accident in 1974, she decided not to tell Ed about Shane's death while he is still on the Moon, as NASA feared the effects the message would have on his mental state along with the isolation that he already had to endure. However, the Soviets leaked the news to him, after which he shut off all communications with Earth. The two eventually reunited after Ed's return to Earth to grieve together.
By the 1980s, Karen had become the owner of the Outpost Tavern, a bar usually visited by NASA astronauts, after previously having worked there. When their daughter Kelly, whom they adopted a few years after Shane's death, told them that she wanted to go the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Karen and Ed were opposed to the idea, which resulted in a family fight. Frustrated with her family life, she developed an affair with Danny Stevens, who worked at the Outpost. She told Ed about her affair right before he had to leave on another mission to the Moon, though she did not tell him that it was Danny. She later sold the Outpost to Sam Cleveland, Tracy's second husband, who wanted to turn it into a franchise.
Together with Sam Cleveland, she then founded Polaris Space Tours, a space tourism company. In 1992, they opened the Polaris space hotel with the wedding of Danny and Amber Stevens. However, the space station was hit by space debris and nearly almost destroyed. Following Sam's death during the Polaris hotel disaster, the company was dissolved and the space station was bought by Dev Ayesa, who wanted to rebuild the hotel into a spaceship for his Mars mission. Karen then joined his company, Helios Aerospace, to help him recruit astronauts and engineers from NASA, including her then ex-husband Ed. Following multiple incidents during the Mars race between Helios, NASA and the Soviet Union, the three factions band together for a joint mission. In the meantime, Jimmy Stevens became involved with a group of conspiracy theorists and anti-NASA activists, who planned a bombing of the Johnson Space Center. When Jimmy realized the truth about what he thought would just be a protest, he attempted to call his sister-in-law Amber but is knocked out and tied up by one of the conspirators. After Amber heard Jimmy's voice message and failed to call him back, she told Karen instead. Karen started searching for Jimmy and found him tied up in a van which was filled with explosives. Karen quickly confronted a security guard to inform him of the bomb and start an evacuation, but the bomb detonated before Karen could escape. After the explosion, Jimmy found her buried beneath debris, but she died before help arrived.
Ellen Wilson
- Portrayed by Jodi Balfour (seasons 1–3; guest season 4) [6]
President Ellen Wilson (née Waverly), an astronaut and the 41st president of the United States. She was a member of the Apollo 19 crew and commanded Apollo 24 as well as Jamestown Moon Base.
In 1970, Ellen became an astronaut candidate as one of "Nixon's Women", a program that was started in response to the Soviets landing cosmonaut Anastasia Belikova on the Moon. She was one of four out of twenty women selected for the final program. She is a closeted lesbian and entered a relationship with Pam Horton, a bartender who worked at the Outpost Tavern. Following the Apollo 23 incident, NASA is investigated by the FBI. When Ellen's friend Larry Wilson, a NASA engineer who is also a closeted gay, becomes a suspect, the two married to give each other cover, which however causes Pam to break up with her. Following the explosion of Apollo 23, which led to Ed Baldwin being stranded on the Moon, Apollo 24 is sent a few months later to bring Ed back to Earth. However, Apollo 24 had a malfunction while being in orbit and needed a new Saturn V FCC to be repaired. Following the deaths of Deke Slayton and Harrison Liu, Ellen was the only Apollo 24 crew member to arrive at the Moon, also leaving her stranded for a while, after Ed was sent back, whom she replaced. Shortly before Deke's death, she told him about her sexuality. He first reacted disgusted, but then became more sympathetic, advising her to not reveal her secret to anyone since the world had too many people who thought like him and that it could ruin her career, but that he believes she has great things ahead of her.
In 1983, she was the commander of Jamestown Moon Base before returning to Earth. She briefly took over as the Administrator of NASA, following the sudden death of Thomas O. Paine in 1983. At the same time she reunited with Pam, hoping to rekindle their relationship, but she is rejected by Pam due to her fear that they could not have a calm relationship together, as Ellen has become a public figure.
Ellen started her political career in 1986, when she won a seat in the United States Senate for Texas. In 1992, Ellen and Larry have a son called Scotty. In 1993, she became the first female president of the United States after winning the 1992 United States presidential election against Bill Clinton. When American astronaut Will Tyler, a member of NASA's Mars mission, came out as gay, Ellen issued an executive order so that no American military personnel should be forced to disclose their sexual orientation. While Larry got investigated for having an affair with a man in 1995, Ellen forestalled the outcome by publicly coming out as a lesbian. Shortly after, she once again reunited with Pam.
She was re-elected as president in the 1996 United States presidential election. During her second presidency, she formed the Mars–7 Alliance to oversee the Mars colony and further events at space exploration and legalised same-sex marriage. In 2001, Ellen and Pam got married.
Margo Madison
- Portrayed by Wrenn Schmidt
Margo Madison, a NASA engineer and the first woman in Mission Control, who was mentored by Wernher von Braun. She later became Flight Director and Director of the Johnson Space Center and also mentored Aleida Rosales, who she convinced to join NASA to work in Mission control. She developed an affair with Soviet engineer Sergei Nikulov during the joint Apollo–Soyuz mission. The two regularly exchanged information in secret over the years to help each other. In 1992, the Soviet Union then used their relationship to blackmail her into giving them the plans for NASA's Mars mission, which they used to improve their own spacecraft and compete in the race for Mars. After the FBI starts investigating against her, she accepts an offer from Lenara Catiche, the director of Roscosmos, to flee from the United States to the Soviet Union, where she lives under the alias Margaret Reynolds.
Margo is based on Frances Northcutt. [4]
Molly Cobb
- Portrayed by Sonya Walger (seasons 2–3; recurring season 1)
Molly Cobb, an astronaut, former Mercury 13 pilot and member of "Nixon's Women". As module pilot of Apollo 15, she became the first American woman in space. She also commanded Apollo 21 and 25, the earlier also known as Jamestown 1, the first crew to permanently occupy the Moon, where she is the one who discovers ice in the Shackleton Crater. She retired as an astronaut after saving Wubbo Ockels during a solar storm which made it likely for her to develop cancer due to the radiation. She later developed normal tension glaucoma, which led to her becoming blind. Nonetheless, she served as Chief of the Astronaut Office until she was fired by Margo Madison in 1992. She is later present during the bombing of the Johnson Space Center and survives the initial explosion, but goes back into the destroyed building to help others who were injured. The Space Center was then renamed after her to honour her for her sacrifice.
Molly is based on Jerrie Cobb.
Danielle Poole
- Portrayed by Krys Marshall (season 2–present; recurring season 1)
Danielle Poole, an astronaut and member of "Nixon's Women". She was a member of the Apollo 18 and 22 crews, which made her the first African American astronaut of NASA. She later commanded Apollo 75, which was part of the joint Apollo–Soyuz mission between NASA and the Soviet space program with the goal to bring NASA astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts together and shake hands, to encourage peace between the two nations during the height of the Cold War. While being in space, the mission was cancelled due to the high tensions between the two countries and Apollo 75 was called home, however she chose to ignore the command and contacted Soyuz–2 commander Stepan Petrovich Alexseev. They decided to manually proceed with the docking maneuver. After successfully docking, Danielle and Stepan met to shake hands, which ultimately helped to defuse the tensions between the two countries. In 1992, she was selected as commander of NASA's Mars mission, Sojourner–1.
Kelly Baldwin
- Portrayed by Cynthy Wu (season 2–present)
Kelly Ann Baldwin (née Nguyễn Thị Hạnh, before adoption), a biologist and Ed's and Karen's adoptive daughter from Vietnam. As a child she was boarded on an American C-5A Galaxy transport aircraft as part of Operation Babylift to bring her and other children to the United States as refugees. She was one of 47 children who survived the plane crash. The Baldwin's then adopted her, after their son Shane had died in a car accident in 1974. In 1992, she worked at the McMurdo Station in Antarctica, before joining the crew of Danielle Poole's Mars mission. After the Sojourner saved the cosmonauts of Mars–94 and it became a joint mission, she entered an affair with cosmonaut Alexei Poletov. Following Alexei's death during the mission, she later gave birth to their child.
Danny Stevens
- Portrayed by Jason David [lower-alpha 7] (recurring season 1), Mason Thames [lower-alpha 8] (recurring season 1) and Casey W. Johnson [lower-alpha 9] (seasons 2–3; guest season 4)
Daniel Gordo "Danny" Stevens, an astronaut and Gordo's and Tracy's son. He slept with Karen Baldwin while working at the Outpost Tavern and struggled to overcome his feelings for her, even after getting married to Amber Stevens. He was stationed on Jamestown Moon Base and later became a hero, when he saved the Polaris space hotel from destruction and saved the lives of everyone in the hotel following his wedding on the space station. In 1992, he joined Ed Baldwin's Mars mission sponsored by Helios Aerospace. While on Mars, he is injured during drilling and is given Vicodin, after which he begins stealing stronger pain meds and develops an addiction. After Ed confronted him about his addiction, he grew resentful against him and caused a drilling accident which led to a landslide that killed several astronauts. After revealing his role in the disaster due to guilt, he is exiled to the North Korean landing module. He is mentioned to have died on Mars sometime before 2003.
Aleida Rosales
- Portrayed by Olivia Trujillo [lower-alpha 8] (recurring season 1) and Coral Peña [lower-alpha 9] (season 2–present)
Aleida Rosales, the daughter of an illegal immigrant who is fascinated by space and was later mentored by Margo. Her father Octavio settled with her in Houston after the death of her mother. He worked as a janitor for NASA to help satisfy her interest in space. After her father is deported back to Mexico after being initially suspected of spying for the Soviet Union, she was homeless from many years. She joined NASA as an engineer primarily to maintain her residency status, where she clashed with other employees due to her stubbornness, notably with Bill Strausser, a veteran mission controller, who temporarily quit his job after she called him "Peanut" in reference to an embarrassing episode in his past. Margo then forced her to apologize to Bill, after which he came back to NASA and the two became friends. By 1992, she was married to Victor Diaz, had a son, Javi, and was reunited with her father. However, her father showed signs of dementia, which she was unwilling to acknowledge. By 1994, she became Flight Director and directed NASA's Mars mission, Sojourner–1. She finds out about Margo's connection to the Soviets, which leads to the FBI starting an investigation despite her personal objections. After surviving the bombing of the Johnson Space Center by anti-NASA conspiracy theorists, she suffered severe post-traumatic stress disorder, causing her to take several months' leave of absence before resigning. She eventually partnered up with Kelly Baldwin to pursue private funding for a delayed NASA project, which led to the restoration of Dev Ayesa as CEO of Helios Aerospace.
Dev Ayesa
- Portrayed by Edi Gathegi (season 3–present)
Dev Ayesa, the co-founder of "Helios Aerospace", a private space company with the goal to reach Mars before the NASA and the Soviet Union, for which he recruited Ed and Karen Baldwin and Danny Stevens. In 1987, Helios won a contract with NASA to mine Helium-3 from the lunar surface. The availability of clean nuclear energy led to an apparent curb in global warming. This breakthrough helped him fund the Phoenix, the space shuttle of his Mars mission, which was rebuilt from the Polaris space hotel after he bought the company from Karen Baldwin. He inherited his interest in space from his father, who worked as an engineer, building the Saturn V, but was fired following the explosion of Apollo 23.
Miles Dale
- Portrayed by Toby Kebbell (season 4)
Miles Dale, a former offshore oil platform worker who pursues a new job opportunity on Mars. [7]
Samantha Massey
- Portrayed by Tyner Rushing (season 4)
Samantha Massey, a space worker and astronaut on the Mars colony, who shares quarters with Miles Dale. [8]
Irina Morozova
- Portrayed by Sveltana Efremova (season 4)
Irina Morozova, a high-ranking Soviet official [9] with strong ties to the KGB. [10]
Eli Hobson
- Portrayed by Daniel Stern (season 4)
Eli Hobson, the new administrator of NASA. A former auto industry CEO, he's been tasked with bringing the agency into the 21st century by President Al Gore. [11]
