While the brilliant (but under-the-radar) Apple series For All Mankind may take place in an alternative history, it still wants to get things right when it comes to how the characters behave in space. To do that, it brought a real-life astronaut on board as a technical advisor. With season 4 just around the corner, he gave some insights into how he helps make the speculative sci-fi series so good.
Thankfully, For All Mankind fans don’t have long to wait until the start of For All Mankind season 4, which will be on November 10. It’s going to be exciting to see another time jump, this time to 2003, and to see things getting closer to our own time. Considering that it all started in 1969, there are now three decades of history behind these characters.
Former NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman recently told an NYCC panel how he advised the actors on one of the current best sci-fi series to behave more realistically in zero or microgravity; “There’s a tendency for actors to portray being in microgravity as everything happening very slowly, and that’s not really the way it is. So, I showed them films of us on the International Space Station to try to give them a better frame of reference.”
Reisman was very excited to be asked to be part of the best Apple TV show. “This is super fun. I’m tickled pink. I keep expecting this to end someday. I’m an engineer, the likelihood that I was going to end up in a writers room on a television show like this was nil. To have the opportunity to do this kind of stuff is fantastic,” he said via The Popverse.
There was one area where the field of Reisman’s own experience let him down, though; “Once I got a call from hair and makeup because they wanted to know what a woman does with long hair when they have to do a spacewalk. I was like, you’re asking me? I can ask a friend,” Reisman recounted. After checking in with a female astronaut, Reisman reported that scrunchies were an astronaut’s best friend.
For All Mankind season 4 will feature a new batch of recruits finding an asteroid that is rich in radium, which can be used as a source of power on Earth. As usual in the series, this will prompt a space race – as different countries and companies try to get there first and exploit its enormous value.
Familiar characters such as Ed (Joel Kinnaman), Ellen (Jodi Balfour), and Margo (Wrenn Schmidt) will also be returning, and the events of the shocking season 3 finale won’t be forgotten. Ellen may have been impeached, Margo was under investigation by the FBI, and Ed will likely still be grieving the death of Karen.
We haven’t got long to wait now until the drama series returns, and we’re also looking forward to the thriller series Reacher season 2. Also, check out our list of the best TV series ever made.