When the Soviet Union lands a cosmonaut on the Moon in June of 1969, NASA and the Nixon administration deal with the fallout ahead of Apollo 11's flight. The people at NASA are allowed a weekend off to imbibe and or do whatever they need to get back on track, but soon NASA announces they are back in the race, with Gene Kratz giving a Rousing Speech ahead of the landing of Apollo 11. Meanwhile we are introduced to the private problems of a bunch of NASA astronauts and their wives.
This episode provides examples of:
- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: While drowning his sorrows in a bar, Ed tells a reporter that he thinks NASA lost the Moon race because they became too cautious after the Apollo 1 fire. His words end up in the news the following week, and Slayton and von Braun pull him from Apollo 15 as punishment.
- All There in the Manual: How did the Soviets make it to the moon in June 1969? The series never tells, but supplementary material reveals the Soviet "Chief Designer", Sergei Korolev, survived the surgery that killed him in 1966 in real life and fixed the problems with the N-1 rocket, allowing the Soviet moon landing to proceed and scoop the Americans.
- Allohistorical Allusion: Leonov's first words upon landing include the phrase "one small step", although the context is somewhat different.
- Alternate History:
- The Russians land on the Moon first, just a few weeks before Apollo 11 was scheduled to launch. They've apparently been making semi-regular use of the massive N-1 rocket
, which in real life never made it to orbit. - The Apollo 10 lander, used on a test flight to the Moon, is crewed by fictional astronauts Edward Baldwin and Gordo Stevens rather than real-life astronauts Thomas Stafford and Gene Cernan.
- The Russians land on the Moon first, just a few weeks before Apollo 11 was scheduled to launch. They've apparently been making semi-regular use of the massive N-1 rocket
- Anger Born of Worry: After Ed puts his NASA career in jeopardy, his wife Karen gives him a massive "The Reason You Suck" Speech. At first it seems that she is being selfish and is angry about losing social status and the perks of being an astronaut's wife but it soon becomes clear that she is worried about Ed. If he goes back to active duty with the Navy, he will most likely be posted to combat duty over Vietnam where he could be hurt and/or killed.
- Butterfly Effect: As the country reacts to the Soviets reaching the moon, Ted Kennedy cuts short a vacation in Chappaquiddick to meet with Congressional leaders on NASA's future.
- Coming in Hot: Happens to Apollo 11 even worse than the real version, after which NASA spends several agonizing hours trying to reestablish contact. Luckily, they did survive.
- Dartboard of Hate: following the Russians' successful Moon Landing; the NASA Astronauts get pissed and pin the newspaper headline of Alexi Leonov on the Moon to a dartboard while patrons toss their beer bottles at it.
- Death Glare: Ed, watching Leonov walk on the Moon, glares at the TV like it just ran over his dog.
- Drowning My Sorrows: The astronauts all head to the bar after the Soviet moon landing...which causes Ed to spill his guts to a reporter about how he thinks NASA lost its balls after the Apollo 1 disaster.
- Foreshadowing: Eveybody is watching the moon landing despite it being June 26th and not July 20th.
- Historical Domain Character: Loads of NASA people are either real historical figures (Gene Kranz, Wernher von Braun, Deke Slayton, a bunch of the Apollo astronauts) or No Celebrities Were Harmed versions like Gordo Stevens who may or may not be based on Gordon "Gordo" Cooper.
- Historical In-Joke: The first cosmonaut to land on the Moon is Alexei Leonov. In real life, had the Soviets gone to the moon, Leonov really was expected to be the first cosmonaut to walk on the surface.
- I Coulda Been a Contender!: Ed is convinced he and Gordo could have landed on the Moon during Apollo 10 (which was a test flight ahead of Apollo 11) despite the tighter fuel margins.
- Rousing Speech: Gene Kranz gives one ahead of the launch of Apollo 11, recommitting NASA to sending humans into deep space.Till a few days ago, I thought I knew what today was all about. I thought it was about being first. Turns out the stakes are much bigger than that. Today is about the future of our country, the future of our world. Because if we fail in our mission today, the United States will turn away from space, turn away from the future, bogged down by war poverty and hatred. And the future? The future will belong to the Soviet Union, they will be the ones reaching into space for all of mankind. Now, I want you all to think about what for a moment, what that means for the future to look like the "Marxist-Leninist way of life". But if we succeed, if we succeed in putting Apollo 11 on the moon, we still in this thing, still in the race. The future will be ours to fight for and to win. We put a man on the moon today I guarantee we are not stopping there. We go to Mars, Saturn, the asteroids, the stars, deep space. The galaxy. And then, then we get the answers to the big questions. Are we alone? Is there life out there? I am proud to be a member of this team and I know that we will succeed today in our mission, in putting two Americans on the moon. Because in this room, in this agency, in this country, failure is not an option. Kennedy Launch Control, we are go for launch.
- Visual Title Drop: The episode's title "Red Moon" appears as a newspaper headline after the Soviet landing.
- Wham Line: The lunar lander pilot steps onto the Moon's surface... and then starts speaking Russian.
