Timeline

This is a timeline about this show in the universe with key events that happened.

1962

• September 10: John F. Kennedy, in a speech at Rice University, Houston, promises to bring an American astronaut on the Moon within the decade.

1966 (possible POD)

• January 14: Sergei Korolev does not die while undergoing surgery. His survival allows for the possibility of the Soviet moon program securing the necessary funding to better test the N1 rocket. If conditions are just right, though unlikely, the door for a potential Soviet moon landing has now been left open.

1969

• January: Launch of a Soviet N1 rocket. The CIA informed NASA of the event, reporting it as unmanned (with 95% confidence).
• January 20th: Richard M. Nixon is sworn in as the 37th President of the United States.
• February 21: In OTL, the first launch of a Soviet unmanned N1 rocket fails. It was intended to launch a Zond for a lunar flyby, and test the rocket for future manned missions to the Moon.
• May: Apollo 10. Proceeds more or less as OTL but crew is Baldwin-Stevens-Talmadge instead of Stafford-Young-Cernan.
• June 20 (approximately): Launch of a Soviet N1 rocket. The CIA informed NASA of the event, reporting it as unmanned (with 80% confidence).
• June 26: The Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov becomes the first human to land on the Moon.
• July 2: Newsweek has a cover story on the Moon landing. In an interview, Edward Baldwin says "The NASA doesn't have guts anymore".
• July 3: In OTL, the second launch of a N1 rocket fails destroying the launch site. This stops the Soviet lunar program for three years, when two failures cause its cancellation.
• July 16: Apollo 11 launch. Proceeds more or less as OTL.
• July 18: Senator Ted Kennedy cancels his participation in a celebration party at Chappaquiddick Island and returns to Washington instead. In OTL, Kennedy has a car accident killing Mary Jo Kopechne and his chances to run for US President.
• July 20: Aleida and Octavio Rosales cross the border from Mexico to the USA. Almost at the same time, Apollo 11 reaches the Moon.
• July 21: Apollo 11 leaves the Moon.
• July 24: Apollo 11 returns on Earth.
• September: The second Soviet mission lands Anastasia Belikova, first woman on the Moon.
• October: Apollo 12 lands in Sinus Medii (in OTL this happens on November 14-24).

1970

• April: Apollo 13 lands on the moon; Jim Lovell and Fred Haise become sixth and seventh people on Moon.
• Early autumn: Apollo 14. The war in Vietnam has ended at an unspecified date and Nixon expects to run for reelection against Ted Kennedy.
• October: Unsuccessful Soviet moon landing attempt.
• October: Patty Doyle dies during a training exercise.
• October 27: NASA presents its first all-female Astronaut Group, consisting of Ellen Wilson, Molly Cobb, Danielle Poole, and Tracy Stevens. That same day Molly Cobb swaps Gordo Stevens as LM Pilot for Apollo 15.

1971

• October 18: Apollo 15 launches. Molly Cobb becomes the first American woman to launch to space.
• October 22: Apollo 15 lands at Shackleton crater. (After having decided to change their landing site in the search for water on the moon.) Molly Cobb becomes the second woman on the moon, and first American woman on the moon.
• October 25: Molly Cobb extracts ice from the bottom of the Shackleton crater.
• October 29: Apollo 15 splashes down.

1972

• April: Apollo 16.
• Summer: Apollo 17 launches
• November 7: President Richard Nixon is defeated by his challenger, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), by a wide margin.
• Late 1972: Apollo 18.

1973

• Early 1973: At his first State of the Union address, President Kennedy vows that the Soviet Union will not beat America to Mars as it did the Moon.
• Early 1973: Apollo 19.
• Summer 1973: Apollo 20
• The Space Shuttle and Sea Dragon programs are approved.
• October 12: Jamestown lands at the Shackleton crater. Near the Apollo 15 landing site.

1974

• The Soviets launch the Zvezda lunar base. N-1 transports cargo modules to Moon.
• Early 1974: Apollo 21 (also known as Jamestown 1) becomes the first crew of the Jamestown base.
• Mid 1974: Apollo 22 (also known as Jamestown 2) launches and arrives at their lunar base. Relieves Apollo 21 crew.
• August 24: Apollo 23 fails to launch, due to an explosion at the launchpad. Though the crew survives, 11 NASA staff at the launchpad are killed, including Gene Kranz. The Equal Rights Amendment is ratified as an amendment to the United States Constitution, when the state of Illinois becomes the 37th state to ratify.
  • As a result, NASA opens a full investigation into the Apollo 23 explosion.
  • NASA janitor Octavio Rosales comes under suspicion by the FBI for his alleged communist ties. He is deported back to Mexico in December.
• Late August: Margo Madison becomes Flight Director. She also starts to mentor Aleida.
• Late August: Ellen Waverly marries NASA controller Larry Wilson.
• Autumn: The Jamestown 2 crew, stranded due to the Apollo 23 explosion, suspects of Soviet activity near their base.
  • Gordo Stevens begins suffering psychologically from the prolonged duration of their mission. Danielle Poole deliberately breaks her arm to provide NASA an excuse to end the mission early.
  • Danielle Poole and Gordo Stevens return to earth, leaving Ed Baldwin behind.
• Autumn: Aleida wins a grand scholarship.
• Late November: Shane Baldwin suffers an accident, leaving him brain dead. He later dies.
• Early December: Soviet cosmonaut Mikhail Vasiliev is captured by Ed Baldwin in Jamestown.
• December: Apollo 24 fails to complete a TLI burn.
  • Apollo 25, scheduled to repair a satellite in orbit, implied to be an early version of what would eventually be OTL’s Hubble Space Telescope, instead launches to repair Apollo 24's malfunctioning S-IVB stage. Harrison Liu, Deke Slayton and Molly Cobb perform an EVA to repair the S-IVB stage. The S-IVB stage fires unexpectedly killing Harrison Liu, injuring Deke Slayton and stranding Molly Cobb. Tracy Stevens rescues Molly Cobb, and Ellen drags Deke back to the capsule of Apollo 24.
  • Ed and Mikhail prepare the LSAM-1 to help Apollo 24 arrive at the lunar surface.
  • Ellen Waverly and Deke Slayton arrive at the moon. Deke dies later from internal bleeding, and is buried on the moon.
• December: Ed Baldwin returns back home alone, aboard the Apollo 24 Command Module. Ellen Wilson becomes the commander, and sole inhabitant, of Jamestown.

1976

• November 2: Governor Ronald Reagan of California narrowly defeats incumbent Ted Kennedy in the 1976 presidential election.
  • In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court rules that partially-marked ballots from Ohio can be counted. The resulting 713 additional votes allows Reagan to win Ohio's electoral votes, and thus the presidency.
• The Soviets launch the N-3 Rocket, becoming "the largest rocket ever launched".
• The Outer Space Treaty is dissolved.
• The United States' Hermes Lander, guided by the orbital observer Hyperion and enveloped in airbags to cushion its landing, touches down on Mars and becomes the first successful landing of a human spacecraft on the planet. The lander releases the robotic Sojourner rover which takes the first pictures of Mars' surface ever recorded by humanity.

1977

• First launch of the Sea Dragon from the Pacific Ocean, carrying over 1 million pounds of building supplies, equipment, and fuel for the Jamestown settlement and its mining operations. The Sea Dragon was the size of a small skyscraper and had a 75-foot diameter; its size required that it be constructed in the water using techniques traditionally reserved for freighters. Unlike previous rockets, almost all of Sea Dragon was re-usable for multiple missions.

1978

• The Camp David meeting between the leaders of Israel and Egypt is a failure.

1979

• Soviets withdraw from the Afghan border, related to the reprioritization of the space race.
• Three Mile Island faces a nuclear meltdown, but is prevented thanks to advanced technology being used for Jamestown.
• November: President Reagan orders a surprise rescue mission of the American hostages held in Iran, successfully ending the crisis.

1980

• February 22: In the 1980 Winter Olympics, the US men's ice hockey team loses to the Soviet Union, with a score of 3-10.
• October 6: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat survives an assassination attempt.
• November 4: President Ronald Reagan wins his second term with a narrow margin of victory.
• December 8: Former Beatles member and superstar solo artist John Lennon survives an assassination attempt in New York City.
• Soviets expand the Zvezda lunar base.

1981

• The US military flies its own Space Shuttle.
• Ronald Reagan refuses to bail out the Chrysler Corporation.
• May 31: Pope John Paul II is assassinated in St. Peter's Square.

1982

• Berlin Crisis - Fire is exchanged in West Berlin after a East German tank pursues an East German couple attempting to flee East Berlin. Defense readiness is raised to DEFCON 4.

1983

• Ed and Karen discuss a live coverage from the South Pacific Ocean showing a sea launch of a rocket similar to the Sea Dragon carrying a plutonium payload for expansion of the Jamestown colony.
• NASA begins using Space Shuttles.
• An SRB for Challenger is found with a defect in its O-rings, which may cause the booster to explode if not taken care of
• May 21: A solar storm forces the crew of Jamestown to evacuate to safety. However two astronauts were exposed to high doses of solar radiation.
• An electric vehicle built with battery technology derived from NASA innovation, with a 60 mile range, is commercially available.
• The Soviet Union proposes a joint mission between their space program and the United States.
• Ed steps down as Chief of the Astronaut Office, letting Molly Cobb take his place.
• Korean Air flight 007 is shot down over Sakhalin Island on a flight from New York to Seoul via Anchorage, killing everyone on board. The Soviets shot it down to keep their impending shuttle launch activities on Sakhalin Island secret.
• The Soviets launch their own Space Shuttle, called Buran.
• Pathfinder, America's next-generation shuttle, launches for its maiden voyage, on a mission to protect Sea Dragon 17.
• Sea Dragon 17 explodes, and is blamed on faulty wiring, putting a stop to Sea Dragon production.
• US and Soviet astronauts engage in an armed standoff at the Jamestown lunar base.
• Danielle Poole commands successful Apollo-Soyuz mission, which defuses US-Soviet political tensions.
• The United States begins an investigation into the Jamestown Incident, in the form of the Rodgers Commission.

1984

• President Reagan and Premier Andropov sign a lunar peace treaty dividing the moon into US and Soviet zones.
• The Rogers Commission finalises its report to the Attorney General, finding that Soviet gunfire damaged the Jamestown reactor, while covering up the second reactor for weapons grade plutonium manufacturing.
• June 19: Basketball player Michael Jordan is drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers as the first overall pick.
• October 12: British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is assassinated by the Irish Republican Army in the Brighton hotel bombing; British MP Anthony Berry survives. Irish President Eamon de Valera condemns the bombing.
• Senator Gary Hart (D-CO) wins the US presidential election.

1986

• Mikhail Gorbachev becomes premier of the USSR; he capitalizes on vibrant Soviet economy to gain Soviet influence and allies abroad. Among the foreign businessmen attracted to investing in the USSR's vibrant economy is American real estate mogul Donald Trump.
• April 16: Arnoldo Martinez Verdugo becomes Mexico's first Marxist President, defeating Manuel Clouthier (PAN); this victory helps Soviet influence expand further into Latin America.
  • In response, the US Senate approves a resolution to protect the southern border with Mexico, with 44 Republicans and 5 Democrats in favor.
• March 17: Polaris, a space tourism company founded by Sam and Karen Cleveland, makes its first launch.
• June 29: England defeats Argentina in the FIFA World Cup Final, after a goal by Argentine player Diego Maradona is ruled a handball.
• Dev Ayesa and Richard Hilliard develop the first successful nuclear fusion reactor.
• Ellen Wilson runs for the United States Senate in Texas as a Republican.
• Sam Cleveland and Karen Baldwin found Polaris Space Tours, a private space tourism company.
• India, Turkey, China, and several European nations launch their own space stations.

1987

• April 16: Dev Ayesa's company Helios Aerospace wins NASA contract to mine lunar deposits of Helium-3.
• June 16: Chinese Premier Deng Xiaoping vows that China will have "lunar parity" with the US and USSR.
  • July: China opens its first lunar base.
• The Beatles kick off a reunion tour in Chicago, the first time performing together in the US since 1966.
• US intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard is convicted of spying for Israel.

1988

• November 8: President Hart wins landslide re-election against Republican challenger Pat Robertson.
• In the 1988 World Series, Kirk Gibson of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a walk-off home run against the Oakland Athletics.

1989

• Scientist James Hansen testifies that global warming has slowed due to reduced carbon emissions, thanks to humanity's shift from fossil fuels to nuclear fusion technology.

1990

• Love in the Skies comes out, starring Dennis Quaid as Gordo Stevens and Meg Ryan as Tracy Stevens.
• November: East Germany celebrates the anniversary of the October Revolution.
• Real estate mogul Donald Trump travels to Moscow to build luxury-style condominiums.
• NASA launches the Thomas Paine Space Telescope.
• Astronaut Danny Stevens, son of Gordo and Tracy Stevens, arrives at Jamestown lunar base.
• President Hart declines to defend Kuwait after Iraq invades its territory.
• NASA unveils plans for Sojourner 1 spacecraft for the first mission to Mars.

1991

• Senator Ellen Wilson (R-TX) announces her presidential bid.

1992

• Governor Bill Clinton (D-AR) wins Democratic presidential primary.
• The Polaris Orbital Hotel, a space station operated by Polaris Space Tours, hosts its first guests, including Ed Baldwin and Danielle Poole attending the wedding of Danny Stevens. The station is nearly evacuated following a malfunction caused by orbital debris, but Danny averts disaster by making critical repairs.

1994

• NASA launches its Sojourner mission to Mars, slated to last two years.
• The USSR launches its Mars-94 mission to Mars.
• Helios Aerospace launches a private mission to Mars.

1995

• By this year there is human presence on the planet of Mars.

Space missions

Designation	Date	Launch vehicle	CSM	LM	Crew	Summary	Episodes
xxx	January 1969	N1 (rocket)	N/A	N/A		Test flight of N1 (possibly manned)	1
Apollo 10	1969	Saturn V	Charlie Brown	Snoopy	Edward Baldwin Gordo Stevens Fred Talmadge	Trial run for Lunar landing	1, 2
xxx	June 1969	N1 (rocket)	N/A	N/A		Test flight of N1 (possibly manned)	1
xxx	June 26, 1969	N1	Soyuz 7K-LOK	LK (spacecraft)	Alexei Leonov	1st human landing on the Moon	1
Apollo 11	July 20, 1969	Saturn V	Columbia	Eagle	Neil Armstrong Buzz Aldrin Michael Collins	1st US human Lunar landing	1, 2
xxx	September 1969	N1	Soyuz 7K-LOK	LK (spacecraft)	Anastasia Belikova	1st woman on the Moon	2
Apollo 12	September 19, 1969	Saturn V	Yankee Clipper	Intrepid	Pete Conrad Alan Bean Dick Gordon	Scouting for US Lunar base site	2
xxx		N1	Soyuz 7K-LOK	LK (spacecraft)		Crash lands on the Moon. Unnamed cosmonaut killed.	4
Apollo 15	October 1971	Saturn V	Endeavour	Seahawk	Edward Baldwin Molly Cobb Frank Sedgewick	First US woman on the Moon	4, 5
Apollo 18		Saturn V			Gordo Stevens Danielle Poole (...)	.	5
Apollo 19		Saturn V			Ellen Waverly Harrison Liu (...)	.	8
Jamestown	October 1973	Saturn V			Unmanned	First Lunar Base (lands October 12 1973)	5
Apollo 21/ Jamestown 1	1973	Saturn V			Molly Cobb Robert Crippen Joe Engle	First crewed mission to Jamestown	5
Apollo 22/ Jamestown 2		Saturn V	Excalibur		Edward Baldwin Gordo Stevens Danielle Poole	Jamestown crew rotation. Poole and Stevens return in December 1974, leaving Edward Baldwin alone in Jamestown	6, 7, 8
Apollo 23	August 24, 1974	Saturn V			Michael Collins (...) (...)	Jamestown crew rotation. Saturn V explodes on pad, killing 12, Apollo CM is jettisoned and crew suffers injuries	6
Zvezda	1974	N1			N/A	First Soviet Lunar Base Crew of three	6
Apollo 24		Saturn V	Osprey		Ellen Waverly Harrison Liu Deke Slayton	Jamestown crew rotation.	6, 8, 9
Apollo 25		Saturn IB			Molly Cobb Tracy Stevens Dennis Lambert	Originally a repair of a satellite in Earth orbit - duration 14 days Repair of S-IVB of Apollo 24	5, 6, 8, 9
Sea Dragon 1	1977	Sea Dragon			N/A	First launch of the Sea Dragon rocket Jamestown Base Expansion	10
Jamestown 36	Late 70s	1st Gen Space Shuttle	Columbia		Cook Diaz Foster Sanders White
Skylab 12	Late 70s, Early 80s	1st Gen Space Shuttle	Atlantis		Washington Johnson Allen
Skylab 19	1983	1st Gen Space Shuttle			Doreen Campbell Ricci Smith Stewart Wagner		11
Jamestown 81	1983	1st Gen Space Shuttle	Columbia		Ellen Wilson Young Murphy Lee Walker		11
Jamestown 82	1983	1st Gen Space Shuttle			Allen Harris Heikkinen Stewart
Jamestown 83	1983	1st Gen Space Shuttle			Molly Cobb Miller Rodriguez Cartwright
Jamestown 84	1983	1st Gen Space Shuttle			Davis Johnson Wubbo Ockels Steve Pomepanz Taylor
Jamestown 85	1983	1st Gen Space Shuttle			Garcia Hayes Reed Powell
Jamestown 86	1983	1st Gen Space Shuttle			Howard Kouri Alex Rossi Tremblay Williams
Jamestown 87	1983	1st Gen Space Shuttle			Foster Jones Peterson Price
Jamestown 88	1983	1st Gen Space Shuttle			Nick Corrado James Petersen Tuzell
Jamestown 89	1983	1st Gen Space Shuttle	Discovery		Cook Paul DeWeese Tracy Stevens Rogers		14
Moon Marines	1983	1st Gen Space Shuttle			Vance Paulson Helena Webster Charles Bernitz Steve Lopez Jason Wilhelm		15
Sea Dragon 16	1983	Sea Dragon				Phase III Jamestown Expansion	10, 16
Jamestown 90	1983	1st Gen Space Shuttle			Dubois Jacobs DeLeon O'Brien Smith
STS-83-R/ Jamestown 91	1983	1st Gen Space Shuttle	Columbia		Bishop Gatos Gordo Stevens Tremblay White		18
XXX	1983	1st Soviet Space Shuttle	Buran			Blockade of the Moon	19, 20
Sea Dragon 17	1983	Sea Dragon					19, 20
Pathfinder	1983	2nd Gen Space Shuttle	Pathfinder OV-201		Edward Baldwin Gary Piscotty Sally Ride		19, 20
Soyuz-Apollo	1983	Soyuz			Stepan Alexseev Radislav Orlov		19, 20
Apollo 75 Apollo-Soyuz	1983	Saturn 1B			Danielle Poole Nathan Morrison		19, 20