The Russians faked their moon landings.
The N1 rocket was fraught with technical problems, as were the early Soyuz capsules. In real life, the N1 never even launched successfully. The Soviet leadership, threatened by the Apollo program, got the N1 to a point where it could just launch and fool Western intelligence, but filmed Leonov's and Belikova's supposed landing in a studio, with the timing just right to steal America's thunder.- It is since revealed that the Soviets pushed their moon-landing program too ambitiously and got at least one cosmonaut killed attempting a moon landing. So, not confirmed or jossed firmly yet, but it's not outside the bounds of probability that the USSR will continue to make overblown claims not backed up by their ability to follow through.
- NASA could invoke the Outer Space Treatynote and send a mission to the Soviet landing site, to make sure it was indeed genuine.
- Jossed. As of the S1 finale the Soviets and Americans remain neck and neck in their push to gain supremacy in the Space Race.
- There could still be an in-universe conspiracy theory alleging this, or at least that they faked Belikova being on the moon - just to mess with the Yanks.
- It's All There in the Manual - OTL the "Soviet von Braun", Sergei Korolev died in 1966. He designed the Soyuz which was for a time the only means any nation had of putting people into space - give him three healthy years of life and he'll fix the N1 - and that's exactly what happens in this timeline.
- Maybe in the For All Mankind timeline the Soviet Union had Andrei Tarkovsky fake the moon landing.
The climax of S2 will feature Able Archer 83 turning the cold war hot
Between the solar flare Defcon 3, the guns on the moon in the trailers, and the Panama crisis in the background, a (small scale) nuclear war could potentially break out.- Jossed
Due to butterflies, pop culture in-universe doesn't exactly line up with ours
To us, having a news report interrupt The Real Ghostbusters in 1983 is anachronistic, however in the show's timeline it's likely that the Ghostbusters movie came out in 1980-81 with the cartoon in either 82-83.
Another point supporting this is that Star Trek II came out in 1983 in-universe instead of 1982. Not to mention that Alex Trebek did not host Jeopardy until 1984, yet was seen on Bill's TV in an important scene.
Margo will convince Sergei to defect
Sergei clearly has misgivings about the KGB using him as a Honey Pot for Margo. When she *does* go to the conference to meet her, it won't take much convincing for him to ask for asylum in the USA.- Partly Confirmed. During Season 3, Sergei gets imprisoned by the KGB for giving Margo too much information about the Soviet program; when she finds this out after requesting his presence on the improvised joint NASA-Soviet Mars mission, she tries and ultimately succeeds in getting him asylum in the US. Unfortunately, as suggested by The Stinger for the season, they'll be split once again, as the CIA's investigation into Margo's ferrying info to the Soviets seems to have forced her to seek asylum in Moscow…
The Americans have been beaten to Mars, too
By whom, you ask? Well given, that it is in 1995, one would assume that it cannot possibly be the Soviets - but then again, Gorbachev has not shown up on the show (Season 2 ends with Yuri Andropov still in charge) and one of the many Disaster Dominoes that led to the collapse of the USSR (the invasion of Afghanistan) has been explicitly stated not to have happened. So it is entirely conceivable that a not-fallen USSR has beat the U.S. again. Or maybe it's China.- Seemingly Jossed, then ultimately Confirmed. A joint NASA-Soviet mission ends up being the first to land on Mars midway through Season 3… or so most of the world thinks. The season finale reveals that North Korea had sent a manned mission to Mars under the guise of an unmanned probe before NASA, Roscosmos or Helios made their efforts, with the unidentified astronaut seen setting foot on Mars in The Stinger from Season 2 being revealed as Lee Jung-Gil, the lone survivor of the "probe's" landing and the true first person on Mars.
The mission to Mars is intended as a joint mission of peace between Americans and Soviets, but will not be without its issues
While the United States and the Soviet Union are officially working on patching things over, the Season 2 finale implies that there are forces behind the scenes who don't desire that. While they begin to work together on a trip to Mars, which will lead to a human landing in 1995, these secret machinations will complicate the mission, and could potentially destabilize the Soviet Union.- Partly Jossed. Season 3 features a three-way race to Mars between America, the still alive Soviet Union and the private company Helios Aerospace. Complications with the Soviet mission midway through transit to Mars do force them to join forces with NASA's mission, but tensions still exist between the two parties (and ultimately with Helios as well) that compromise the mission further.
Kurt Cobain did not commit suicide in this timeline
Just as John Lennon survived his assassination attempt in this timeline, one can hope that Kurt Cobain did not take his own life in 1994 in this timeline. The fact that "Come As You Are" is still a thing in this timeline's 1995 suggests he still has his demons. But maybe the events surrounding the coming missions to Mars at least helps the friends who tried to intervene in his self-destruction in the OTL. Lee Atwater knew that Ellen was gay
He found Ellen to be so marketable as a political candidate that he was perfectly willing to overlook this detail as long as she and Larry were willing to maintain the farce. He even suggested that she and Larry have a child to increase their credibility.Dev Ayesa is secretly planning for Helios to colonize Mars for the long term
Consider his suggestion in "All In" to Ed to crew Phoenix with "artists". Not exactly something you'd need for a temporary scientific research mission, but for a planned long-standing civilization, it makes sense. As part of FAM's parallels with real life, this also aligns with the long-term goals of the more prominent members of the contemporary aerospace private sector (*cough* looking at you Musk *cough*), lending the idea a little more credence.- Building on this idea further: As a possible twist late in Season 3, Dev could reassert remote control of Phoenix (after the crew overrode his first override in "Seven Minutes of Terror") and effectively hold the Helios crew hostage on Mars, forcing a three-way team-up with the NASA-Soviet mission in order to reclaim the ship and ensure everyone gets home.
- Jossed. Although Dev clearly has aspirational long-term plans for Mars, he never goes as far as hijacking the mission to enact them, thanks to focus among the three space agencies being directed entirely toward finding a way to get their crews off the planet after the landslide. His refusal to give up on Mars despite the deteriorating circumstances on the mission ultimately ends up getting him ousted from Helios, making his future role in the series unclear.
The fourth season will involve the discovery of life on Mars
Not intelligent life, obviously, but microbial life, possibly living in an underground reservoir. This will lead to a rift forming between the NASA, Helios, and the Soviets over what to do about Mars and whether to try to colonize the planet or leave the newly-discovered life forms be.- Jossed, but the idea is entertained. Although Season 4 primarily focuses on the conflicts surrounding the discovery and proposed harnessing of a resource-rich asteroid, the subplot of Kelly's search for extraterrestrial life continues in the background, clearly building towards a future payoff as her research becomes more direct on the edges of Korolev Crater…
The song in the jump forward to the 2010s at the end of season 4 will be "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons
Jossed. The jump-forward instead uses M83's "Midnight City". The series finale will be an international crewed mission to Europa which will discover an alien ecosystem.
The iridium mined from Goldilocks will unleash a new renaissance in space travel, culminating in interstellar travel for the final season.
At some point someone will say "I'm X and I come in peace..." "three times a night."
John F. Kennedy Jr. will become President after Al Gore.
The season 4 opening newsreel indicates that Kennedy is looking to run for the open Senate seat in New York in 2000, which Hillary Clinton won in real life. This would set him up to become a presidential candidate in 2008 like Clinton and Obama, or possibly as a primary challenger to Gore in 2004, like how Ellen was challenged in 1996. Not having a living counterpart could lead to them casting someone full-time in the role for Season 5.