NASA Vending Machine (watching "For All Mankind" and "Star City")

Everyone is sad in 1971. Belicova is sad about Sasha. The engineers are sad about the Chief Designer. Lyudmilla is sad about Petrovsky. Sergei is sad about his career prospects, but never about math. The Chief Designer is sad about certain people interrupting him from pulling beets. Irina is sad about a lot of stuff. And then, in the last moments… is that a flash of hope? Maybe, but it’s probably just gonna make people sad next week. Dan Moren and Jason Snell.

The aftermath of the discovery of the mole and the secret space launch is all over this episode. The Chief Designer and Lyudmilla finally have it out. Tania ponders her future, and Irina ponders it too. And there’s some serious drama at Mission Control and on the Venera probe headed to Venus. Dan Moren and Jason Snell.

This one’s a banger. The KGB has got the mole… or do they? What will happen to the Chief Designer’s risky mission to Venus? Is Lyudmilla out of control or does she have the upper hand? And Brezhnev makes a surprise appearance! Dan Moren and Jason Snell.

The fallout of the lunar-mission accident is wide reaching. We learn how a Star City resident can be compromised by those diabolical Americans. Tania is concerned about her husband’s fidelity, but nobody believes her. A newly arrived scientist follows the sound of hammering to discover her unlikely destiny with the inner solar system. And as the tables may be turning on Lyudmilla, her young protegé Irina makes a discovery that could crack the case wide open—or put her in serious danger. Dan Moren and Jason Snell.

Time for another Soviet mission to the moon, but this one runs into some surprising trouble. Valya just wants to make Tania happy, but a trip to Moscow for a concert ends up complicating matters. And Irina discovers how awkward it is to meet some of her subjects in real life—but hey, you live in Star City, so it can’t be that much of a coincidence, can it? Dan Moren and Jason Snell.