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Tracy Stevens was the wife of NASA astronaut Gordo Stevens. She later became an astronaut herself, after passing NASA's first women astronauts program in 1970. Her first mission in space was Apollo 25.

Tracy and Gordo eventually divorced, and Tracy grew to be a celebrity astronaut. She got engaged to entrepreneur Sam Cleveland and they married in Las Vegas in May 1983.[2]

When Soviet cosmonauts started an attack on the lunar base Jamestown in fall 1983, Tracy and Gordo sacrificed their lives to turn on the backup coolant systems of the reactor, preventing a nuclear meltdown on the Moon. Though Tracy and Gordo made it back to Jamestown, they died in each others arms due to their exposure on the Moon. As a result, Tracy was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and buried next to Gordo at Arlington National CemeteryW.[3]

History[]

Season 1[]

Meeting Gordo[]

FAM 156 TC Gordo & Tracy wedding photo 1

When Gordo Stevens gets off a plane at Gillespie FieldW in California in 1961, he bumps into Tracy, who he had met earlier. He asks her why she is there, and she tells him she wanted to learn how to fly. She asks him for instructors, and he takes her flying with him in order to teach her, but she quickly shows a lot of talent for flying, later revealing she had been flying for 725 hours. After landing, both of them kiss.[4]

In March 1962, Gordo and Tracy got married.[5]


Astronaut candidate[]

When NASA's chief astronaut Deke Slayton told Gordo and Tracy he wanted Tracy to join NASA as an ASCAN, Gordo said they would need to discuss this in private, but Tracy did not wait and accepted, and shook Deke's hand. Gordo got excited for Tracy, but she only asked if he really was okay with it, which Gordo confirmed, revealing that Deke had also given him a spot on Apollo 15.

FAM 103 21

Tracy joined the other 19 candidates in order to start her training

On January 6, 1970, Tracy entered the Manned Spacecraft Center and walked into the room where all other 19 astronaut candidates were. She was joined by Danielle Poole, while Molly Cobb was joined by Patty Doyle, whom she told she was glad she would be behind her like in the old days, which made Doyle smile. Deke walked in and introduced himself, telling them this would be a vigorous training, during which he expected a lot less than the 20 candidates to stay. He explained they would be graded as they went along, which included pilot performance, academics, character, and motivation. He would be posting results every so often; if their names were not on the list, they were cut from the program.

On day 18 of the program, the women had to get through a flight test at the Ellington Air Force Base. During her flight, Ed Baldwin was her instructor and told her on how to land the jet. Tracy landed it smoothly, which Deke liked. Later, Tracy picked up her kids from Karen's home. While she was there, Karen congratulated her on making it through the first cut. Tracy gave Ed credit for this achievement, and Karen mentioned she hoped Ed would still be focused enough for Apollo 15.

Later, while checking the list, she found she was in the 12th and last position. While Tracy and the rest of the women talked at the Outpost Tavern, Tracy mentioned she had not flown anything too glamorous, and had not really considered flying as a career before. The conversation shifted to them talking about Molly and Patty. They agreed Patty was nice, but thought Molly could be more encouraging.

FAM 103 34

Molly, Tracy, and Danielle in simulator training.

During a simulator test, Tracy was assigned with Danielle and Molly. There, Tracy yawned while Danielle responded to a question. Molly snapped her fingers at Tracy, and told her to be ready; when it was Tracy's turn, she was told to open all four helium iso valves, which she could not find until told by Molly. Inside the simulator, Molly understood when there was a master caution alarm since primary guidance had failed, recognizing they needed to do it manually. Tracy was confused, but Molly told her to take manual control, guiding her on what to do. However, Tracy did not want to listen to Molly and ended up "killing" them in the simulation. Molly was annoyed at this, and reminded her that a lot of exceptions had been made for her, so she did not see a reason to complain about anything, especially since she did not see why she had still made the cut up until then.

FAM 103 38

When Tracy thought about quitting the program, she and Gordo got into a heated argument.

At home, Tracy realized Molly was right and told Gordo it was a joke for her to still be in the program. However, Gordo supported her by saying she had a real chance, and had been told that her jet scores had been among the highest in the class. Gordo told her to see the test program through, but Tracy said she should have been cut weeks ago, but NASA's public affairs officer Shorty Powers wanted a space couple. When the argument started heating up, Gordo told Tracy to have guts, but Tracy retaliated by asking if he really thought she was the one with no guts. She told him to get out of the house while throwing things at him.

FAM 103 49

At one point, Tracy found Ellen and stopped to help her.

At desert survival training, Deke told them it was not a teamwork-building assignment, and they would each be timed and graded on their individual performances. They each had a walkie-talkie, but if they used it, they would immediately fail the must-pass test. While Tracy walked, she found Ellen Waverly who had fallen and hurt her foot, however, she mentioned she would not use the walkie-talkie. Tracy helped her and told her it was probably a bad sprain. In order to help with the Sun, Tracy covered up with Ellen and got to know her a little better in the process, finding out Ellen's family owned Cavalier Airlines.

After a while, Deke called out through his walkie-talkie, and told all remaining candidates to radio their approximate location. Since he got no response, he radioed again, but was responded by Tracy, who told him he did not need to shout. Paramedics received Ellen, and Tracy was given water while Deke reminded her it was not a team exercise: Ellen should have radioed and Tracy should not have stopped to help her, but Tracy told him that she was not going to leave her behind, and he would not have done it either.

FAM 103 56

When Deke considered "guts" not to be enough for the program, he recommended Tracy to drop out from the program.

Deke called Tracy to his office, where he told her he had a lot of respect for what she had done at the field test, but what is coming would be dangerous stuff, and that he did not think she had the skill set, and told her she should be proud of what she achieved. He also told her he would not cut her, but recommended she withdraw from the program, but she told him she would not drop out.

In fall 1970, on day 200 of the program, Ed Baldwin introduced the five remaining candidates to the LLTV, which would emulate the flight dynamics of the lunar module spacecraft. He told them it was sort of like a helicopter, with a few distinctions. He told them that the activity for that day would be to perform just basic takeoff and landing maneuvers. Tracy's turn was first, so she got in, and started flying. Meanwhile, Gordo was in his car when he suddenly noticed a fire at Ellington base and drove back only to see firefighters swarming the area. Tracy saw Gordo and hugged him, telling him that Patty had crashed.[4]

Selected as an astronaut[]

After the funeral of Patty Doyle, Tracy, Ellen, Danielle, and Molly had a drink at the Outpost. Tracy then gets home and finds Gordo sleeping with their kids. They discuss whether or not Tracy is doing the right thing, and Gordo tells her that their children think the world of her due to her training to be an astronaut. They both kiss and tell each other they love one another.[6]

FAM 104 14

Deke presents all of the female astronauts to the press.

On October 27, 1970, NASA administrator Thomas Paine is confused as to who called a press conference. At the conference, Deke announces that Danielle, Ellen, Molly, and Tracy were the first women to complete all of NASA's required astronaut training. He introduces each of them, and shakes their hand, while the press claps in celebration. Deke goes to Thomas, who tells him he had not authorized what he had done. Deke was aware of this, and reminded him that he was the one who decided who goes up, and when.[6]

On a later day, Gordo came home drunk after Deke had told him that Molly Cobb would replace him for Apollo 15. Tracy comforted him, then she told him that they would be sending her to the Cape the next week for maybe a week or more. Gordo did not like that, feeling they should discuss that first, but Tracy told him that he knew that she needed to go where they sent her.

On October 18, 1971, the day of the Apollo 15 launch, Gordo called Tracy who was at the Cape again and asked her where she had been the past night. Tracy told him she had unplugged the phone in order to sleep right, but Gordo asked what would have happened if there had been an emergency with their kids and she told him that BASEOPs can get to her at any time. He asked her when she would return, and she mentioned that maybe a few days, and she might go out to celebrate in the night. Gordo replied by saying that he thought she might be worried about being a bad mother. She flushed the toilet, prompting Gordo to ask what had happened. She pretended nothing had happened, and hung up on him.[6]

Later, Tracy was at Karen Baldwin's home where all astronaut's wives and their kids gathered to watch the landing of Apollo 15. Karen congratulated Tracy for her assignement To Apollo 25. They watched President Nixon talking live to Molly Cobb on the Moon, and Tracy made a toast to Molly with Ellen and Molly's husband, Wayne Cobb.[7]

3 years later, in fall 1974, Gordo was at the new American Moon base Jamestown. While he was talking to Tracy, she mentioned that she had put down a deposit on an apartment. Gordo was disappointed about that and told her, that they had agreed to wait till he got back before taking big steps, but Tracy replied that it was just a deposit and that's a great price and a perfect location, so she didn't want to lose it. Later, Tracy gets to the Baldwin home, where Karen was taking care of her boys. Danny asks to stay for the night and after Karen assures her that it's ok she leaves.[8]

Some time later, Tracy and Karen are at a meeting with their kid's school's principal, Mike Russell, who tells them that he thinks the relationship between Danny and Shane is becoming unhealthy and damaging, but Tracy argued that it might be the lack of discipline at this school as she heard they had stopped paddling students.[9]

Helping Karen[]

FAM 108 15

Tracy believed Gordo had been with another woman.

In December 1974, Gordo is finally back from the prolonged Apollo 22 mission. One day when he gets home, Tracy calls him a son of a bitch, asking where he had been, since at JSC they had told her that he left early. She assumes that he had been with a lady, but he tells her that he was seeing a psychiatrist. She tells him that the shit he came up with to save his ass was unbelievable, but he shows her the card, which shocks her. He said he started talking to the doctor because he needed to talk to someone. Tracy asked him what had happened to him on the Moon, but he says that nothing had happened. Tracy picks up the phone and tells Karen she would be with her as soon as she could and tells Gordo, that Shane had an accident.[10]

FAM 108 26.59 Karen Baldwin + Tracy Stevens informed by Dr

Karen told Tracy that Shane's situation as very serious.

Karen is waiting at the hospital and is joined by Tracy, telling her that Shane was in surgery and explained what had happened. Tracy asks Karen if she wants her to talk to the doctor, but Karen tells her that Shane would be fine. Tracy tells her what she brought and looks at her friend, worried.

The next morning, Tracy is back with Karen when surgeon Dr. Josephson walks in and tells them that due to the amount of time passed between Shane's accident and his arrival to the ER, he had lost a lot of oxygen in his brain, so he was now brain-dead, which meant that his brain was no longer functioning even though his heart was. He tells Karen that it was extremely unlikely that Shane would recover from the event. Karen refused to listen to the doctor and wanted to ask for a second opinion. She told Tracy that she wanted NASA's best neurologist, so Tracy called Deke while Karen went to see Shane.

Later Karen was walking in the hospital when a reporter approached her, asking her questions, but Tracy grabbed the man and shoved him away. Tracy told Karen that it was time for her call with Ed, and they left the hospital. Later, back in the hospital, they are told by NASA neurologist Dr. Weddle, that unfortunately there is nothing he can do for Shane. Tracy then accompanied Karen to her house and comforted her friend. While they were inside, Karen told Tracy that she was starting with the funeral arrangements, but Tracy told Karen that only a few hours had passed since Shane's death.[10]

FAM 110 46

The crew of Apollo 25 was welcomed back by everyone at mission control.

After Apollo 24 is stuck in Earth's orbit due to malfuncioning, Apollo 25 is preponed and the mission's new task is now to meet with 24 and replace the damaged Saturn V flight control computer. The crew, Molly, Tracy, and Dennis Lambert would leave to the Cape the next morning and launch the day after. Back home, Tracy comforts her son Danny who had not said a word since Shane's death, before she has to leave for the Cape.

Apollo 25 launched and rendezvoused with 24. At the end of the repair EVA, the S-IVB of Apollo 24 accidentally ignited, dragging the still-tethered Apollo 25 CSM with it. Molly Cobb managed to free the command module from the runaway S-IVB, but lost her grip and was left adrift in orbit. Although ordered to return without saving Molly, with the help of CAPCOM Gordo, Tracy managed to pilot Apollo 25 to rendezvous with Molly and retrieve her.[11]

After tehir return, Tracy, Molly, and Dennis walked into Mission Control and were celebrated by everybody. When Gordo saw Tracy, he ran up to her and kissed her, then told her that she was not in uniform since she needed to wear gold. He gave her his pin, and she cried tears of joy. Later, Tracy met Karen in the visitors room who hugged her said that she was proud of her.

Season 1.5[]

FAM 151 TC Stevens family 1979

The Stevens' family in 1979

In 1980, Tracy was the commander of the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, which brought her and her team to Skylab for a 3 month mission of scientific experiments and solar observation.[1] [note 1]

Sometime between summer 1980 and early 1983, Tracy and Gordo got divorced. Tracy's launch into space in the late 70s was a conflict point for Danny Stevens and his girlfriend at that time, Lisa Martinelli.[1]

Season 2[]

Karen worked the bar at Outpost, while Ed mentioned that Tracy would be on television. On the program, Tracy greets the host and tells him that she had returned from being in Rio and Aruba, also stopping at Vegas before returning. The host asks her if she has a new ring and she tells him that it is a ring Sam Cleveland had given her when they got married in Vegas.

In Los Angeles, Tracy gets pictures taken. She gets a phone call from her husband and answers.

FAM 202 29

Ed was hostile towards Tracy when she got married without letting Gordo know first.

Ed looks at his board and gets visited by Tracy, who gives him Ed McMahon'sW mug. She mentions that the talk show host, Johnny CarsonW, wanted to shoot a few segments in Jamestown, but Ed tells her that he needs her more focused on the program and even though it would give kids more insight on what they are doing on the Moon, Ed reminds her that she had missed her third SIM and launched in a month. Tracy apologizes because she had gotten her schedule mixed up after celebrating with her new husband Sam; she mentions that she would go to SIM, but after noticing he was being cold to her, she asks him if there was a problem, but he says there was not. She asks if he could not be happy for her, but he tells her that she did not have to announce her marriage on national television and Gordo deserved to know before. However, Tracy mentions that he was never concerned with her knowing about Gordo having sex with women at the Cape and leaves.

Gordo is cooking a steak, but just keeps looking at it while his son Jimmy hangs party decorations. Danny, who is now a soldier, greets his father as Captain Stevens, saluting him. Gordo smiles and tells him to hug him instead. He tells his son it was good to see him. Jimmy greets his brother and the two hug. When Tracy arrives, she looks at Danny and holds him, proud to see him. She hugs Jimmy afterwards and greets Gordo awkwardly. Gordo decides to make a toast, saying that Danny had made sticking out in Annapolis easy, also mentioning that he was proud. He also congratulates Tracy on her marriage and tells her he is happy for her.

Danny tells his family about his life in Annapolis, and Gordo smiles while looking at everyone having a good time. Tracy gets up and says she has to go. They both say goodbye to one another and Gordo grabs another beer. He tells his kids that he had snacks and more alcohol, but Danny says that they were going to see some friends. Gordo says that it is fine, and tells them to have a good time.

Tracy wakes up at her home, but realizes she had to be in SIM in an hour. She grabs a bottle of beer and tells her maid Marta to call JSC and tell them that all their cars had flat tires.

FAM 203 24

Karen congratulates Tracy on her wedding.

Tracy visits Karen at Outpost, but finds it strange that Karen had not congratulated her. When she points it out, Karen rushes behind the bar in order to hug her friend. Karen is surprised by the size of the ring, and pours herself a drink as well. Tracy tells her that she was the only one who actually seemed happy for her, since everybody at JSC was looking at her funny like she needed Gordo's approval. She tells Tracy that Kelly wanted to go Annapolis, which she should not find strange since she grew up around Ed and Tracy, telling her friend that she had inspired a lot of young women. Karen tells Tracy that she had shut her daughter down, but Tracy tells her that her daughter had told her something that was a big deal. However, she also points out that if Kelly really wanted to do it, she would do it with or without Karen. Karen mentions that if anything happened to Kelly, she would not know how to live without her.

Gordo is awakened by a phone call. Tracy tells him that he had left a message and he says that he wanted to tell her something. Tracy says that everywhere she looks she sees herself, so Gordo asks her if she is okay. She tells her that she is, but she had crashed her car and tells him to pick her up since her husband was out of town. Gordo mentions that it is 2 in the morning, but picks her up anyway.

FAM 203 29

Gordo drove Tracy home when she crashed her car after a few drinks.

Tracy asks what she should do about the car, but Gordo says that Sam would probably buy her a new one. She says that Sam was a good man, but had a bit of temper when she pushed him, unlike Gordo, who she describes as easy. She tells him to take her to their old house, since whenever she was late, the staff treated her as if she was a teenager getting home past curfew. She tells Gordo to pull over, but he does not and she throws up in his car.

When they get to Gordo's house, she tells her that since both their children were at home, she would have to sleep on the couch. However, when he turned around, Tracy had gone into their bedroom and had taken her clothes off. Gordo picked them up and says that he would take the couch instead.

FAM 203 39

Tracy was furious when Gordo took her keys and told her they would be in space at the same time.

Tracy tells Gordo that the taxi would be there for her soon, also asking him where her keys were. Gordo tells her that he took them since it was not her house anymore, but she could visit the kids whenever she wanted. Gordo tells her that he would be returning to the Moon, which makes her laugh, until she realizes that he would be on Jamestown 91, which meant that they would both be on the Moon at the same time. She says that she does not want to go through the whole "space couple shit" again since it would affect her publicity. He yells that he would be returning to space after ten years, and did not like that she only cared about herself, but she left.

FAM 203 40

Tracy got very mad at Ed when she found out he had assigned Gordo to Jamestown at the same time she would be there.

Tracy goes to Ed's office and tells him that being on the Moon with Gordo was complete bullshit since she did not want people to think of them as the space couple. He says that nobody was talking about that, but she tells him that she knew he only gave Gordo the assignment out of pity. However, Ed says that he only makes decisions based on what he believes is best for the program, but she insults him, saying that he made decisions based on his golf score and how big a dump he had taken that day. Ed tells her that she is out of line, but she says that she would not be a laughing stock again, taking Gordo's sticker off the board and telling him to bounce Gordo off the flight. Ed tells her that Gordo would not leave his flight, but says that if she wanted out of hers, to just say the word, but she should not expect new assignments soon while he was in office. She gets angry, but says that she would not leave her flight.

Tracy's launch was about to begin and she was interviewed during the launch. Gordo watched while Tracy mentioned that she kept the name Stevens since she was known by her last name. Gordo changed the channel, but could not find anything he wanted to watch. He retuned to Tracy's launch, saying "see you soon".

Tracy's shuttle makes it to the Moon and as she looks around, she smiles and calls the place beautiful. However, her fellow astronaut and cameraman, Paul DeWeese, tells her that he had not been recording, so they reenact the scene.

FAM 205 07

Tracy was welcomed to Jamestown by Al Rossi and Nick, who told her she was now the Linus.

Tracy walks into Jamestown, where she is greeted by fellow astronauts, who tell her that they are excited to see her and mention that they think it was a good idea of Tracy to show the experience. They take part in a welcoming tradition they do in Jamestown, and astronaut Nick Corrado takes off a patch, which they give her, naming her the new "Linus" of Jamestown. Tracy asks why she was the Linus and is told that it was because she was the newbie. Jamestown commander Alex Rossi tells Nick to give Tracy the new orientation which he agrees to do. He shows her around and tells her what they usually do in there. Nick tells her about the time he watched her save Molly on TV when he was in high school, which makes her feel old, but he tells her that it changed his life. As they continue the tour, Tracy stops to look at a picture of Gordo and Danielle with her broken arm, which has "don't let this happen to you" written on it.

Tracy is instructed by Doug Price, who tells her that her job would be to take anybody rotating back home to the Space Shuttle in orbit and getting the new crew to Jamestown. Her other job would be to retrieve cargo from various points on the surface. She tells him that she understands that she was just a truck driver up there, and Doug says that they get a lot of pilots who thought they were better, but tells her that the job was a dangerous one. When she tries to operate the LSAM, she runs into some trouble, but Doug helps her get hold of it.

Gordo watches Tracy's report from the Moon. At Jamestown, everybody gathers around to watch it as well. After the show, Tracy goes to bed while looking at a picture of her with her sons. Before she could go to sleep, the ventilation system turned on, which annoyed her and did not let her sleep very well. The next day, she got to work, and the same pattern repeated for the next few days, which started making her feel slightly depressed. Occasionally, she is also recording audio reports for various local FM radio stations.[TRV 1]

One night, Tracy grabbed a snack. When she saw nobody was awake, she locked herself in an airlock and lit up a cigarette. Another night, as Tracy fell asleep, an alarm rang, and everybody grabbed their oxygen mask. The alarm said that a toxic atmosphere had been detected and mentioned that everybody should prepare for evacuation. However, it turned out to be a false alarm since it was only a blocked vent in Tracy's bed. Later, she apologized to Alex Rossi, telling him that she could not sleep, but he told her that they were a month in and she had five months left to go. Rossi was offering some advice, but smelled alcohol, and asked her if she had been drinking. Tracy covered her mouth and shook her head, but he realized she was drunk and told her he would write her up. She begged him not to and he agreed to give her one more chance. However, he told her that she would not be doing any more interviews or press, and would also be assigned to work a second shift in addition to her other one.

FAM 205 42

Tracy visited Deke's grave and vented about how hard life on Jamestown was.

Tracy left and went to Deke's grave. She told him that she had finally made it to the Moon, but said that it was just a big ball of dirt and felt alone. She started crying and said she missed her children, bed, and bathtub. She realized she should be happy, but now that she was on the Moon, she felt everything was empty.

The American Moon Marines arrived at Jamestown, where they're greeted by Al Rossi and Tracy. Marine Charles Bernitz mentions it was his first time on Jamestown, and is granted the Linus patch. Rossi tells Tracy that she would be training Bernitz, which she agrees to.

FAM 206 07

Astronauts test their new guns on the Moon.

On the Moon's surface, the marines are testing their new guns. When Vance Paulson missed the target, Tracy teased him, telling him that it was possible that the bullet was in orbit around the Moon. They all laughed, and Tracy brought them to the canyon, testing to see how things would go if the Soviets were there. She instructed Bernitz on how to fly the LSAM, who was not able to control it as well as she could.

FAM 206 37

Tracy talked to Jimmy, wishing him a belated birthday, which he did not like.

Jimmy talks to Tracy through videocall. Tracy congratulates him on his birthday, which he mentions had been the day before. They reminisced about when Gordo tried to make him a cake when he was six since he had tried it again and his other birthdays. Gordo overheard while Tracy said that he really made her laugh at times, sometimes just by looking at him. She tells him that she wishes she could go back in time, but is told she had thirty seconds left. However, Jimmy hung up immediately, which she did not like.

Tracy went to Deke's grave and talked to herself. She mentioned Gordo was cocky at times, just like her, but they had changed now. She told Deke that he used to have a bad haircut, but would remain as he was forever.

Tracy is told by Vance Paulson to prepare the LSAM so that they could retake the claimed mining site that the Soviets had occupied. She asks him why he was telling her that and marine Helena Webster asks her if she thinks that Charles would be ready to pilot the LSAM. She says no and is asked if she could do it, since she could not be ordered to do it yet. Tracy says she is in and prepares the LSAM.[12]

FAM 207 60

Moon Marines taking back the mining site.

Tracy and the Moon Marines get ready to retake the mining site and fly on the LSAM. They approach it while humming Ride of the ValkyriesW. Tracy says the landing site was not clear, but she found one after a time. Tracy lands the LSAM and the astronauts get into the claim with their guns in hand, which make the Soviet cosmonauts leave.[12]

Gordo, who had no arrived at Jamestown as well, goes to bed and has no complaints before being scared by Tracy, who whipped his curtain open. They greet each other and he tells her that things were very different. He is introduced to Vance, who compliments her flying. They tell him they would get some dinner, but he chooses to sleep.

FAM 208 36

Gordo admitted he had gone to the Moon to get Tracy back.

Gordo gets up and sees his picture helping Danielle with her broken arm. He looks through a window and sees Tracy in the airlock, smoking into a tube. She tells him that Jimmy was sending her cigarettes, which surprises him. They share it and she tells him that he looks good and happy. He tells her that the last time he had been up there he had lost his mind and tells her the truth about Danielle. She sympathizes about it and tells him that the place can feel lonely. He remembers hearing about Tracy talking to Jimmy about his sixth birthday and realized he had been afraid of moving out since he would be losing Tracy, which was the most important thing to him. He recognizes he had screwed up their marriage and says that he would not be happy until he had her back, revealing his intentions of getting back with her, also telling her that he had told Sam. She laughs about what Sam said about her and asks him what he thinks, and he says that she would only be caught if she wanted to. She tells him to catch her if he could and hands him the cigarette.

Tracy takes Gordo and the marines to 357 Bravo. Gordo pilots the LSAM and mentions that it does not respond like it used to before, but successfully brings them down. The astronauts see movement, so they grab their guns. They tell Nelson Bradford that they had company, so he tells them to try to talk first. They see two cosmonauts, who were working on a sort of machine.

FAM 208 66

Soviet cosmonauts were shot down by astronauts when they perceived a hostile intent.

Bradford orders them to switch to Soviet communication and tell them to leave. They change and they begin to tell them that the site was claimed. The Soviets started moving, but they open a box, so one of the marines shoots one. When the second cosmonaut reached inside the case as well, they shoot him too. The astronauts look at the cosmonaut, who is screaming because he is on fire. They call Tracy so they could bring the injured cosmonaut to Jamestown immediately.

Gordo approaches Tracy and asks her if she is okay. She tells him she is, but asks him how she could make her hand stop trembling. He tells her to give it time.

Tracy gets ready to smoke a cigarette, but hears Gordo singing a song for her. She asks him to quiet down and tells him to stop. He tells her to enjoy wine, which she thinks is terrible. He tells her he knows her and knows she is always in control, which scares him, but he did not want to run away from her anymore. She opens the door to the place were they smoke and the two walk in.

Death[]

Gordo looks out the window of the room he was stuck in with Tracy. They realize the inside was depressurized. Gordo realizes the Soviets had infiltrated the base, so he tells Tracy to hide.

Gordo watches the news and tells Tracy there was nothing on Jamestown. He tells her that last time he was there he watched a lot of Bob Newhart, which he nearly memorized and tells her that they would act them out. He tells her that the only thing he looked forward to was fighting with her on the communication device. He tells her that there used to be an antenna which they used which might still work.

FAM 210 25

Tracy saw astronauts outside, but saw one get killed in front of her.

Gordo manages to connect the antenna and Tracy sees that the marines were moving forward. She calls them and they recognize her, telling them that she was fine. A cosmonaut approaches Vance from behind, so she tries to tell him, but to no avail. Vance is shot and dies, which horrifies Tracy.

The other marines realize this and approach the cosmonaut, who shoots another one of them. The cosmonaut sees Tracy, but is shot by Webster. Webster approaches her fallen teammate, whose suit was depressurizing. They got him into a pressurized room but the bullet had gone through to a nuclear reactor's primary coolant pump.

Molly asks Gordo and Tracy if they had been in contact with anyone, but Gordo reveals that the comms had been taken down and they had no suits. Margo tells them that in about 45 minutes there would be a massive nuclear meltdown which would kill everyone on the base and rendering Shackleton uninhabitable for a thousand years. Gordo asks what they can do and is told that they could swap out the cable connectors from the backup computer to the primary loop, but they had no way to reach them with no suits on. Gordo asks how far the cables were and says that he could get to them, but Tracy and Margo tell him it was not possible. Molly defends him, however, and says that if they gave him some sort of protection, he could last longer outside.

FAM 210 50

Gordo and Tracy get ready to run outside onto the lunar surface.

Gordo and Tracy start making an impromptu space suit and are told what to do by Molly. He is asked if he wants to change his mind, but he does not and shuts down their communication. Tracy tells him that she would be going with him since they had a shot at making it back together.

When Tracy and Gordo are covered in duct tape with their suits. Gordo tells Tracy he loves her, and she returns the words. They put their masks on and run outside with time running. As they move, they start bleeding from the pressure as their suits started coming off. They manage to get it done and start running back. Gordo falls, so Tracy picks him up and they run together. When Tracy falls, Gordo picks her up again and they start losing sight. They passed the fifteen seconds, but made it back into the airlock and tried to pressurize it once again.

FAM 210 64

Gordo & Tracy found dead in the airlock

With everything finished, Rossi and the rest open Gordo and Tracy's airlock. They're found slumped over, having succumbed to their wounds and dead due to the pressure.

Posthumous[]

At the end of 1989, a statue of Gordo and Tracy was installed in front of the main administration building of the Johnson Space Center.[13]

Soon after the unveiling of the statue of the two NASA heroes, the Hollywood blockbuster "Love in the Skies", starring Dennis QuaidW and Meg RyanW as Gordo and Tracy, premiered internationally, telling their story in an overdramatized way.[13]

Notes

  1. There is a discrepancy with Tracy's mission to Skylab.
    In both the bonus video from 1981, and the newsreel of episode 2x01, it is said that the first Space Shuttle ever launched was Enterprise in late 1981.
    In the Time Capsule app, Tracy launches to Skylab aboard Atlantis early 1980.

Trivia[]

  1. One of the radio programs Tracy is recording reports for while at Jamestown is "K-Billy's Super Sounds of the 70s", a weekend show of the fictional radio station "K-Billy" from the 1992 Quentin TarantinoW movie Reservoir DogsW. (Episode 2x05 @ 29:02)

See also[]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Apple iOS app Time Capsule, chapter 6
  2. For All Mankind TV Series - Season 2, Episode 1: "Every Little Thing"
  3. For All Mankind TV Series - Season 2, Episode 10: "The Grey"
  4. 4.0 4.1 For All Mankind TV Series - Season 1, Episode 3: "Nixon's Women"
  5. Apple iOS app Time Capsule, chapter 6, wedding photo → Screenshot
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 For All Mankind TV Series - Season 1, Episode 4: "Prime Crew"
  7. For All Mankind TV Series - Season 1, Episode 5: "Into the Abyss"
  8. For All Mankind TV Series - Season 1, Episode 6: "Home Again"
  9. For All Mankind TV Series - Season 1, Episode 7: "Hi Bob"
  10. 10.0 10.1 For All Mankind TV Series - Season 1, Episode 8: "Rupture"
  11. For All Mankind TV Series - Season 1, Episode 9: "Bent Bird"
  12. 12.0 12.1 For All Mankind TV Series - Season 2, Episode 7: "Don't Be Cruel"
  13. 13.0 13.1 For All Mankind TV Series - Season 3, Episode 1: "Polaris" (press review)
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