‘For All Mankind’ Recap: ‘Nixon’s Women’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 103 of ‘For All Mankind’.
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One unfortunate fact about space travel, is that the many hard-working women that helped America win the space race back in the day, never received all that much recognition for their incredible efforts. Simply because the era in which the space race took place was a male centric one, one that was guarded so closely by men that we didn’t see the first female American astronaut until the 1980s when Sally Ride stepped aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger and we didn’t learn about Katherine Johnson’s contributions to the Apollo program until recently. An oversight that is a shame because those are facts that should be celebrated often in history classes around the world. Which means that we have to be better and make sure that women have a place in space travel’s history, going forward.

But while we know what we must do for the future, that doesn’t stop some from looking back and pondering upon what might have been if say… women were allowed to be astronauts far earlier in American history, and it just so happens that the next episode of For All Mankind dives deep into this notion in its next episode. For the Soviets’ decision to send a female cosmonaut to the moon in the last episode of this series, motivates the Nixon Administration to explore a response in kind. Which makes ‘Nixon’s Women’ a powerful story to say the least. Because it goes into great detail as to why women weren’t flying sooner. Which is easy to figure out since it was all related to the male ego and a firm belief that women cannot do what men do, and the resistance that comes with that is on full display in this tale when President Nixon starts exploring the possibility of putting an American woman in space. But eventually, Gene and Deke drop their reservations and kick off a new program at NASA, once the President makes it crystal clear, what he wants.

But only one woman will join the ranks of NASA’s astronauts and this led to quite the fascinating sequence of events. One that saw Tracy Stevens, join the program because of her past as a pilot and she quickly became the focus of this tale and for good reason. Because she had the natural skills to fly a plane, but struggled in other areas of the program, leading to an in depth character study for Tracy. Wherein she had to decide if this was something that she really wanted, since the optics and the importance of getting an American woman into space came with a great deal of pressure. The kind that definitely put her to the test and helped her grow in the all right ways. For by the end of this story, she wants nothing more than to venture into space and will give it her all to make that happen. But the wonder of this tale doesn’t end with Tracy’s journey, since this story had more to explore in regard to the wonderful things that could have accompanied putting women in space sooner.

Because these brave and intrepid women also start to inspire countless young women with their actions, a twist that adds a nobility and a wonder to space travel that we haven’t seen in years. Plus, it was wonderful to see this episode point out, that women can indeed do anything that men can. Since these intrepid trainees were able to complete the grueling desert training that is required of all prospective astronauts and that brought about some much-needed respect for these trainees and it also led to some more growth for Tracy. For an opportunity to help a badly injured teammate demonstrated her bravery and her ability to lead since she went the extra mile to get Ellen back to base camp. If anything, all of these elements made this episode quite inspirational and powerful for certain. But while it was nice to celebrate something that should have happened a long time ago in our world, this journey had its own set of risks.

Because space travel is a dangerous game, and the grueling training it requires has brought forth some close calls for some of our world’s most famous space travelers and sadly, we saw some of that play out here as well. For the closing moments of this story saw a training exercise end in flames, with a seasoned pilot involved in the accident, no less. Something that just serves to remind both the characters and the audience that this intensified space race is going to bring about a little more heartache than folks might like. Simply because NASA is acting on instinct at this point and that never goes well for a program that relies on calculations at every turn and hopefully Patty is okay and escaped the cockpit in time. But in the here and the now, this was a bold story for certain, one that truly showed off the potential of what this series can do storytelling wise, and it should be interesting to see who will be selected from the program and will relish in the honor of becoming the first woman from the United States of America, to walk on the surface of the Moon. Until next time.

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