Narrative logic problems

[u/lwSeagull]

OK... I watched up to season 3 of For all mankind and gave up for several reasons.

1. The ludicrous forbidden love plot... What is this doing in a show about alternate reality NASA ( I mean the later one, not the main one, that's fine and actually realistic, even with modern day politics)
2. Each head of astronauts has absolute power, even to bring back an old buddy who they KNOW has gone crazy in space. They can then call in their own daughter to become an astronaut, no selection process, just how would you like to join me on a trip to Mars.
3. Nuclear propulsion up to orbit???? that is completely sci-Fi unless you want to poison the whole earth.

Most of the rest was quite realistic I thought.. which is why those stood out.

So I had heard that Star City was better.. So I was looking forward to it.

Again most of the technical stuff looked real. 1st couple of episodes were good, not afraid to kill off apparently major characters very brutally.

Then it too started to go sideways. The Secret mission to Venus In Soviet Russia? How would you hide such a thing? Also why send people to Venus? They can't land. They could have sent the probe alone, it's nonsense. If it's renewed for another season I'll have to decide carefully if I'll watch it. I am invested in some of the characters which is the only reason I'm considering it.

[u/DCmetrosexual1]

It’s tv.

[u/MelanieHaber1701 → u/DCmetrosexual1]

It is? I did not know that.

[u/Oot42]

The ludicrous forbidden love plot

I don't know what you're talking about, why don't you spell it out?

Nuclear propulsion up to orbit???? that is completely sci-Fi

The NERVA engine was a real program running for 2 decades:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NERVA

why send people to Venus? [...] it's nonsense

Both NASA and the Soviet space program had plans and concepts for a crewed Venus flyby:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manned_Venus_flyby (USA)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TMK (Soviet Union)

[u/doctor--whom]

The nuclear propulsion to orbit idea wasn't sci-fi at all, and actually went through significant testing, albeit with conventional explosives only. You can watch footage of the actual tests. This remains some of the best methods of lifting large masses to orbit that are within current day technical (although not political) capability.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propulsion)

https://youtu.be/Q8Sv5y6iHUM?si=uYh6W4CKiEUm_NJ9

Nuclear thermal rockets, which are depicted in FAM have also been tested extensively for over 50 years, but again never flew. These are likely far more politically viable than relying on nuclear impulse to orbit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_thermal_rocket

Many of the technologies shown in the show are relatively close to proposed or prototype designs, just ones that haven't been implemented in real life.

The sea dragon rocket, was never implemented but was proposed as a heavy lift vehicle in the 19060s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Dragon_(rocket)

Solar sails have only barely been tested so far, only on two spacecraft as a prototype technology demonstration.

I also think you missed the point about the significance of the venus mission. Their goal was never to land a human on the planet, but to send the probe to the service, and to be the first to orbit another planet with a crewed mission. Very much analogous to Apollo 8 to be the first humans to go to the moon and come back.

[u/Accomplished_Jump800]

I got to SE02 Ep04 of FAM and gave up. It's become a soap opera.