Edward Baldwin • Portrayed by
Joel Kinnaman (seasons 1–5)
USN Rear Admiral Edward "Ed" Baldwin, an astronaut. A
Naval Aviator, he flew
F9F Panthers during the
Korean War. He was the commander of
Gemini 7,
Apollo 10,
Apollo 15, Apollo 22, Pathfinder and Phoenix. He was the husband of
Karen Baldwin and raised two children with her,
Shane and
Kelly, with the latter being adopted from Vietnam in the 1970s. During Apollo 10, which was intended as a test run for
Apollo 11, Ed and
Gordo Stevens, his best friend and fellow astronaut, were only eight miles away from the Moon, but were instructed by NASA not to land. After the Soviets then landed on the Moon before Apollo 11, Ed and Gordo were widely criticised by the media, but Ed deflected the blame onto NASA, claiming that "NASA doesn't have guts anymore". He was then removed from Apollo 15 as a consequence of the interview, but was later reinstated as commander by
Deke Slayton. At the same time, he also worked as an instructor and trained "
Nixon's Women", a program that was started in response to the Soviets landing cosmonaut
Anastasia Belikova on the Moon. Alongside Gordo and
Danielle Poole, Ed was on the Moon with Apollo 22 when Apollo 23 exploded on the launchpad, extending their stay on the Moon until Apollo 24 would be ready. Ed is eventually left alone on the Moon after Gordo and Danielle are forced to return to Earth due to a medical emergency; the Soviets had their base only a few miles away from Jamestown, forcing someone to remain at Jamestown. In the meantime, Ed's son Shane had died in a car accident, which NASA decided to keep secret from Ed as they feared the news would have a major impact on his mental state along with the isolation. However, the Soviets leaked the news to him, after which he shuts off all communication with Earth. Shortly after, one of the Soviet cosmonauts,
Mikhail Vasiliev, arrived at Jamestown and asked to be let in, as he did not have enough oxygen to return to his own base. Ed decided to trust him and obliged, however in the 1980s it is revealed that Vasiliev had placed a
listening device in Jamestown. Vasiliev convinced Ed to answer NASA's calls and later helped him to prepare for the arrival of Apollo 24. The mission was a success and Ed returned to Earth while
Ellen Wilson takes over Jamestown. By 1983, Ed had been promoted to rear admiral and worked as
Chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA. He then assigned himself as the commander of the
Pathfinder mission, which was meant to escort the
Sea Dragon resupply mission to Jamestown. During the mission, an incident occurred on the Moon where two of the Soviet cosmonauts were shot by US "moon marines". The Soviet Union declared a blockade on the Moon and threatened to shoot down Sea Dragon if they did not abort their mission. Ed threatened to fire back and destroy Buran, the Soviet shuttle, but
Sally Ride, one of his crew members, refused to activate the weapon systems. He relieved her of her duties and she pulled a gun on him to force him back, but he ignored her threats and told her that he knows she won't shoot him. Ed activated the weapon systems but reconsidered Sally's warning that there must be another solution. He then decided to shoot down Sea Dragon himself, as to prevent the Soviets from committing an action of war by letting them destroy an American shuttle. In 1992, Ed left NASA after not being selected as commander of the
Mars mission. Instead he joined
Helios Aerospace, a private space company, to command their Mars mission. He decided to take
Danny Stevens—Gordo's son—with him, despite the warnings Danielle warning him of Danny's instability. After reaching Mars, Ed and Danny attempted to land during a heavy dust storm. Being ahead of NASA's Sojourner–1, he now had the chance to become the first human on Mars, but after nearly hitting a mountain and looking at Danny beside him, he decided to abort the mission, unwilling to be responsible for Danny's death. His decision allowed Sojourner 1, led by Danielle, to land first. After a landslide destroyed most of Helios' equipment and killed multiple astronauts and cosmonauts, Helios, NASA, and Roscosmos banded together for a joint mission to return the survivors to Earth. Meanwhile, Ed's daughter Kelly had started an affair with cosmonaut
Alexei Poletov, who died in the landslide, and got pregnant. After months of repairing their equipment, Kelly had to be brought on board the Phoenix, Helios' ship in the Mars orbit, as soon as possible to save the baby, but as they had not produced enough fuel yet, only Kelly alone could be sent to Phoenix. Ed and the remaining survivors decided to stay on Mars and wait for a rescue mission, while Kelly and the Phoenix flew back to Earth. Ed flew Kelly towards the Phoenix with the repaired Landing Module and then managed to crash-land the Module back on Mars. Ed is based on
Apollo 10 commander
Thomas P. Stafford.
Gordo Stevens • Portrayed by
Michael Dorman (seasons 1–2; guest season 5)
USN Captain Gordon "Gordo" Stevens, an astronaut. His first mission was as Pilot of
Gemini 7 alongside
Ed Baldwin. Later, he was the Lunar Module Pilot of
Apollo 10, the commander of Apollo 18 and a member of the Apollo 22 crew, also known as Jamestown 2, the second mission that stayed at Jamestown Moon Base and was later stationed on the Base again with Jamestown 91. He was the husband of
Tracy Stevens and had two sons with her,
Danny and
Jimmy. Gordo flew with his best friend Baldwin for Apollo 10 and was criticised for not taking the opportunity to land on the Moon, which allowed the Soviets to come first. He was scheduled to fly with Ed again for Apollo 15, but was replaced by
Molly Cobb and instated as commander of Apollo 18 again. Alongside Ed and also
Danielle Poole, Gordo was on the Moon with Apollo 22, when the follow-up mission Apollo 23 exploded on the launchpad, extending their stay on the Moon until Apollo 24 would be ready. During their isolation Gordo suffered from extreme anxiety and hallucinations. The three first decided to keep his condition secret, as NASA would never allow him to fly again if they found out about his episodes of psychosis, but Ed decided to tell Houston the morning after another episode. In the same night, Danielle broke her own arm; the crew told NASA that it was an accident, and that Danielle had to fly back to Earth for medical treatment. Gordo accompanied her as pilot, sparing him from anyone finding out about his mental health problems, while Ed stayed on the Moon, as they could not leave Jamestown uncrewed. Back on Earth, he started seeing a psychologist and also told Tracy what really happened. Gordo later spoke to Danielle and told her that he wanted to reveal the truth to the whole world, that Danielle was the hero, not him, but Danielle told him that it would only ruin both their careers and to keep it secret. By 1983, Gordo and Tracy had divorced and Gordo let himself go, believing that he would never fly again, but after seeing Ed and Danielle preparing for their missions, he pulled himself back and started working out with the goal to fly to the Moon again. He is eventually selected and returns to the Moon with Jamestown 91, where he also reunited with Tracy. When the Soviet cosmonauts attacked Jamestown to retrieve their captured comrade, Rolan Baranov, who had been shot and brought to Jamestown for medical treatment, Gordo and Tracy were in a chamber, talking about where their marriage went wrong, when they noticed that the inside of Jamestown was depressurized. Although the Soviets had blocked all communication to the Earth, the two managed to contact Houston via an older device from the original Jamestown Base.
Margo Madison informed them that the reactor had been damaged and that there would be a nuclear meltdown soon if they did not activate the backup coolant systems. With no way to contact anyone else on Jamestown, the only way to prevent a meltdown was to activate the systems from outside. However, there were no spacesuits in their chamber, forcing Gordo and Tracy to make impromptu spacesuits from duct tape, which would only protect them for a few seconds. They ran outside, turned the systems on and managed to reenter the chamber, but succumbed to their wounds caused by vacuum exposure. They were later found by the remaining astronauts on Jamestown and are posthumously awarded the
Medal of Honor and buried at the
Arlington National Cemetery. Gordo is partially based on
Apollo 10's lunar module pilot
Eugene Cernan Tracy Stevens • Portrayed by
Sarah Jones (seasons 1–2)
Tracy Stevens, an astronaut. She was the command module pilot of Apollo 25 and was later stationed on Jamestown Moon Base with Jamestown 89. She was the wife of
Gordo Stevens and had two sons with him,
Danny and
Jimmy. In 1970, Tracy became an astronaut candidate as one of "
Nixon's Women", a program that was started in response to the Soviets landing cosmonaut Anastasia Belikova on the Moon. She was one of four out of twenty women selected for the final program. Following the explosion of Apollo 23, which led to
Ed Baldwin being stranded on the Moon, Apollo 24 was sent a few months later to return Ed to Earth. However, Apollo 24 had a malfunction while being in orbit and needed a new
Saturn V FCC to be repaired. Tracy had already been selected as pilot of Apollo 25, whose original mission was to repair an astronomical satellite in Earth's orbit but changed to help Apollo 24. During the repairs the S-IVB of Apollo 24 accidentally ignited and launched the capsule, killing astronaut Harrison Liu and dragging the still-tethered Apollo 25 with it.
Molly Cobb, the commander of Apollo 25, managed to free their ship and was catapulted into space, but Tracy managed to pilot Apollo 25 to catch and save Molly, after which they returned safely to Earth. By 1983, Gordo and Tracy had divorced and Tracy had remarried. She returned to the Moon with Jamestown 89, where she reunited with Gordo, who arrived a while later with Jamestown 91. When the Soviet cosmonauts attacked Jamestown to retrieve their captured comrade,
Rolan Baranov, who had been shot and brought to Jamestown for medical treatment, Gordo and Tracy were in a chamber, talking about where their marriage went wrong, when they noticed that the inside of Jamestown was depressurized. Although the Soviets had blocked all communication to the Earth, the two managed to contact Houston via an older device from the original Jamestown Base. Margo informed them that the reactor had been damaged and that there would be a nuclear meltdown soon if they did not activate the backup coolant systems. With no way to contact anyone else on Jamestown, the only way to prevent a meltdown was to activate the systems from outside. However, there were no spacesuits in chamber, forcing Gordo and Tracy to make impromptu spacesuits from duct tape, which would only protect them for a few seconds. They ran outside, turned the systems on and managed to reenter the chamber, but succumbed to their wounds caused by vacuum exposure. They were later found by the remaining astronauts on Jamestown and are posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor and buried at the Arlington National Cemetery. Tracy is partially based on
Trudy Olsen Cooper, a licensed pilot and the former wife of
Mercury Seven astronaut
Gordon Cooper. President
Ellen Wilson (
née Waverly), an astronaut and the 41st president of the United States. She was a member of the Apollo 19 crew and commanded Apollo 24 as well as Jamestown Moon Base. In 1970, Ellen became an astronaut candidate as one of "
Nixon's Women", a program that was started in response to the Soviets landing cosmonaut Anastasia Belikova on the Moon. She was one of four out of twenty women selected for the final program. She is a
closeted lesbian and entered a relationship with
Pam Horton, a bartender who worked at the Outpost Tavern. Following the Apollo 23 incident, NASA is investigated by the
FBI. When Ellen's friend
Larry Wilson, a NASA engineer who is also a closeted gay, becomes a suspect, the two married to give each other cover, which however causes Pam to break up with her. Following the explosion of Apollo 23, which led to
Ed Baldwin being stranded on the Moon, Apollo 24 is sent a few months later to return Ed to Earth. However, Apollo 24 had a malfunction while being in orbit and needed a new
Saturn V FCC to be repaired. Following the deaths of
Deke Slayton and
Harrison Liu, Ellen was the only Apollo 24 crew member to arrive at the Moon, also leaving her stranded for a while, after Ed was sent back, whom she replaced. Shortly before Deke's death, she told him about her sexuality. He was initially disgusted, but then became more sympathetic, advising her to not reveal her secret to anyone since the world had too many people who thought like him and that it could ruin her career, but that he believes she has great things ahead of her. In 1983, she was the commander of Jamestown Moon Base before returning to Earth. She briefly took over as the Administrator of NASA, following the sudden death of
Thomas O. Paine in 1983. At the same time she reunited with Pam, hoping to rekindle their relationship, but she is rejected by Pam due to her fear that they could not have a calm relationship together, as Ellen has become a public figure. Ellen started her political career in 1986, when she won a seat in the
United States Senate for
Texas. In 1992, Ellen and Larry have a son called Scotty. In 1993, she became the first female president of the United States after winning the
1992 United States presidential election against
Bill Clinton. When American astronaut
Will Tyler, a member of NASA's Mars mission, came out as gay, Ellen issued an executive order so that
no American military personnel should be forced to disclose their sexual orientation. While Larry was investigated for having an affair with a man in 1995, Ellen forestalled the outcome by publicly
coming out as a lesbian. Shortly after, she once again reunited with Pam. She was re-elected as president in the
1996 United States presidential election. During her second presidency, she formed the
Mars–7 Alliance to oversee the Mars colony and further events at space exploration and legalized
same-sex marriage. In 2001, Ellen and Pam got married.
Margo Madison • Portrayed by
Wrenn Schmidt Margo Madison, a NASA engineer and the first woman in Mission Control, who was mentored by
Wernher von Braun. She later became Flight Director and Director of the
Johnson Space Center and also mentored
Aleida Rosales, who she convinced to join NASA to work in Mission control. She developed an affair with Soviet engineer
Sergei Nikulov during the joint
Apollo–Soyuz mission. The two regularly exchanged information in secret over the years to help each other. In 1992, the Soviet Union then used their relationship to blackmail her into giving them the plans for NASA's Mars mission, which they used to improve their own spacecraft and compete in the race for Mars. After the
FBI starts investigating against her, she accepts an offer from
Lenara Catiche, the director of
Roscosmos, to flee from the United States to the Soviet Union, where she lives under the alias
Margaret Reynolds. Margo is based on
Frances Northcutt, who, during the
Apollo 8 mission, became the first female engineer to work in NASA's
Mission Control.
Molly Cobb • Portrayed by
Sonya Walger (seasons 2–3; recurring season 1)
Molly Cobb, an astronaut, former
Mercury 13 pilot and member of "
Nixon's Women". As module pilot of
Apollo 15, she became the first American woman in space. She also commanded Apollo 21 and 25, the earlier also known as Jamestown 1, the first crew to permanently occupy the
Moon, where she is the one who discovers ice in the
Shackleton Crater. She retired as an astronaut after saving
Wubbo Ockels during a
solar storm which made it likely for her to develop cancer due to the radiation. She later developed
normal tension glaucoma, which led to her becoming blind. Nonetheless, she served as
Chief of the Astronaut Office until she was fired by
Margo Madison in 1992. She is later present during the bombing of the
Johnson Space Center and survives the initial explosion, but reenters the destroyed building to help others who were injured. The Space Center was then renamed after her to honour her for her sacrifice. Molly is based on
Jerrie Cobb.
Danielle Poole • Portrayed by
Krys Marshall (seasons 2–4; recurring season 1; guest season 5)
Danielle Poole, an astronaut and member of "
Nixon's Women". She was a member of the Apollo 18 and 22 crews, which made her the first African American astronaut of NASA. She later commanded Apollo 75, which was part of the joint
Apollo–Soyuz mission between NASA and the Soviet space program with the goal to bring NASA astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts together and shake hands, to encourage peace between the two nations during the height of the
Cold War. While being in space, the mission was cancelled due to the high tensions between the two countries and Apollo 75 was called home, however she chose to ignore the command and contacted Soyuz–2 commander
Stepan Petrovich Alexseev. They decided to manually proceed with the docking maneuver. After successfully docking, Danielle and Stepan met to shake hands, which ultimately helped to defuse the tensions between the two countries. In 1992, she was selected as commander of NASA's
Mars mission, Sojourner–1. In 2003, she came out of retirement to become the new commander of the Happy Valley Mars base following the dismissal of Colonel
George Peters after the failed Kronos mission.
Kelly Baldwin • Portrayed by
Cynthy Wu (season 2–present)
Kelly Ann Baldwin (
née Nguyễn Thị Hạnh, before adoption), a biologist and
Ed's and
Karen's adoptive daughter from
Vietnam. As a child she was boarded on an American
C-5A Galaxy transport aircraft as part of
Operation Babylift to bring her and other children to the United States as refugees. She was one of 47 children who survived the
plane crash. The Baldwins then adopted her, after their son
Shane had died in a car accident in 1974. In 1992, she worked at the
McMurdo Station in
Antarctica, before joining the crew of
Danielle Poole's Mars mission. After the Sojourner saved the cosmonauts of Mars–94 and it became a joint mission, she entered an affair with cosmonaut
Alexei Poletov. Following Alexei's death during the mission, she later gave birth to their child.
Danny Stevens • Portrayed by Jason David (recurring season 1),
Mason Thames (recurring season 1) and Casey W. Johnson (seasons 2–3; guest season 4)
Daniel Gordo "Danny" Stevens, an astronaut and
Gordo's and
Tracy's son. He slept with
Karen Baldwin while working at the Outpost Tavern and struggled to overcome his feelings for her, even after marrying Amber Stevens. He was stationed on Jamestown Moon Base and later became a hero, when he saved the Polaris space hotel from destruction and saved the lives of everyone in the hotel following his wedding to
Amber Stevens on the space station. In 1992, he joined
Ed Baldwin's Mars mission sponsored by Helios Aerospace. While on Mars, he is injured during drilling and is given Vicodin, after which he begins stealing stronger pain meds and develops an addiction. After Ed confronts him about his addiction, Danny grows resentful and, due to guilt, causes a drilling accident which leads to a landslide that kills several astronauts. Once he reveals his role in the disaster, Danny is exiled to the North Korean landing module. He is mentioned to have committed suicide on Mars sometime before 2003.
Aleida Rosales • Portrayed by Olivia Trujillo (recurring season 1) and
Coral Peña (season 2–present)
Aleida Rosales, the daughter of an illegal immigrant who is fascinated by space and was later mentored by
Margo. Her father
Octavio settled with her in Houston after the death of her
mother. He worked as a janitor for NASA to help satisfy her interest in space. After her father is deported to Mexico after being initially suspected of spying for the Soviet Union, she was homeless from many years. She joined NASA as an engineer primarily to maintain her residency status, where she clashed with other employees due to her stubbornness, notably with
Bill Strausser, a veteran mission controller, who temporarily quit his job after she called him "Peanut" in reference to an embarrassing episode in his past. Margo then forced her to apologize to Bill, after which he returned to NASA and the two became friends. By 1992, she was married to
Victor Diaz, had a son,
Javier, and was reunited with her father. The couple later also had a daughter,
Graciana. Her father however showed signs of dementia, which she was unwilling to acknowledge. By 1994, she became Flight Director and directed NASA's Mars mission, Sojourner–1. She finds out about Margo's connection to the Soviets, which leads to the
FBI starting an investigation despite her personal objections. After surviving the bombing of the Johnson Space Center by anti-NASA conspiracy theorists, she suffered severe post-traumatic stress disorder, causing her to take several months' leave of absence before resigning. She eventually partnered up with
Kelly Baldwin to pursue private funding for a delayed NASA project, which led to the restoration of
Dev Ayesa as CEO of Helios Aerospace.
Dev Ayesa • Portrayed by
Edi Gathegi (season 3–present)
Dev Ayesa, the co-founder of "Helios Aerospace", a private space company with the goal to reach
Mars before the NASA and the Soviet Union, for which he recruited
Ed and
Karen Baldwin and
Danny Stevens. In 1987, Helios won a contract with NASA to mine
Helium-3 from the lunar surface. The availability of clean
nuclear energy led to an apparent curb in
global warming. This breakthrough helped him fund the Phoenix, the space shuttle of his Mars mission, which was rebuilt from the Polaris space hotel after he bought the company from Karen Baldwin. He inherited his interest in space from his father, who worked as an engineer, building the
Saturn V, but was fired following the explosion of Apollo 23.
Miles Dale • Portrayed by
Toby Kebbell (season 4–present)
Miles Dale, a former offshore oil platform worker who pursues a new job opportunity on Mars.
Samantha Massey • Portrayed by
Tyner Rushing (season 4)
Samantha Massey, a space worker and astronaut on the Mars colony, who shares quarters with
Miles Dale.
Irina Morozova • Portrayed by
Svetlana Efremova (season 4; guest season 5) and
Agnes O’Casey (
Star City) with strong ties to the KGB.
Eli Hobson • Portrayed by
Daniel Stern (season 4)
Eli Hobson, the new administrator of NASA. A former auto industry CEO, he's been tasked with bringing the agency into the 21st century by President
Al Gore.
Celia Boyd • Portrayed by
Mireille Enos (season 5)
Celia Boyd, a member of the Peacekeeper Security Force on Mars.
Leonid Polivanov • Portrayed by
Costa Ronin (season 5)
Leonid "Lenya" Polivanov, a Soviet politician and former cosmonaut, who serves as Governor of the Happy Valley Mars base in 2012.
Alex Poletov Baldwin • Portrayed by Ezrah Lin (recurring season 4) and
Sean Kaufman (season 5)
Alex Poletov Baldwin,
Kelly's and
Alexei's son, the first human born on Mars.
Avery Jarrett • Portrayed by Delaney Claire Evans (guest season 3), Parker Reese Evans (guest season 3), Ellie Grace Pomeroy (guest season 4) and Ines Asserson (season 5)
Avery "A.J." Jarrett (
née Stevens),
Danny's and
Amber's daughter. When her mother remarried following Danny's death, she took on her stepfather's last name. In 2012, she joined the US Marines and applied for the space program. ==Recurring characters==