How Accurate Is For All Mankind's Space Technology In Season 4? Here's What Apple TV+'s NASA Advisor Told Us
Here's how accurate the science and tech really is in Season 4!
For All Mankind's fourth season arrived for Apple TV+ subscribers in the 2023 TV schedule after more than a year of hiatus. As usual, the streaming series jumped ahead in time to advance the storyline (and pack the aging makeup onto the actors), and the arrival in the 21st century means the action is catching up with present day. So, when CinemaBlend had the chance to speak with Garrent Reisman as the show's NASA tech advisor, I got the inside scoop on just how accurate Season 4 is to real life.
Space travel has become much more common by the 21st century in the world of For All Mankind, with new spaceships and the drive to mine asteroids as just two examples of what Season 4 is doing almost entirely new. When I spoke with NASA tech advisor Garrett Reisman, production designer Seth Reed, and costume designer Esther Marquis at Apple TV+'s For All Mankind press junket, Reisman explained how the tech has evolved in relation to real life:
While the opening montage of For All Mankind's Season 4 premiere prior to the tragic loss of Grigory only went as far as the show's version of 2003, the technology is far more advanced than what is currently available circa 2023. Garrett Reisman – who is a former astronaut as well as current NASA advisor to the Apple TV+ show – had to face new challenges for the newest batch of episodes. He continued:
Well, For All Mankind ranks among our picks for the best Apple TV+ shows for a reason, and it's not because the technology seems completely implausible! The show advancing beyond what is currently possible can allow for more creativity, according to the NASA advisor, as long as the laws of physics aren't blatantly broken. Production designer Seth Reed shared his take on the accuracy of Season 4 as well, picking up where Reisman left off:
Huge portions of For All Mankind have been spent in space and on Mars, but that doesn't make it sci-fi akin to Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica or Star Wars. Fans still have to suspend their disbelief for Season 4 storylines since so much hasn't actually happened in real life yet, though, and that's not going to change if the bosses stick to their long-term plans for the show. We can just safely assume that everything is as realistic to the real-life laws of physics and NASA tech as possible!
New episodes of For All Mankind Season 4 release on Fridays for fans with Apple TV+ subscriptions, and the show will continue into the new year as part of the 2024 TV schedule. You can also find the full first three seasons of the drama on the Apple streamer.
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Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).