For All Mankind: Pathfinder
March 12, 2021 5:10 AM - Season 2, Episode 4 - Subscribe
With a little help from Molly, Ed plans a career change, as his old Jamestown crew mates Gordo and Danielle struggle.
Prediction: Molly’s gonna go in a blaze of glory. Six months’ rest, weed, baths, and office hijinx, then back to space before the radiation damage gets too bad.
posted by sixswitch at 3:50 PM on March 12, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by sixswitch at 3:50 PM on March 12, 2021 [2 favorites]
You'd think all that pot smoking would not only help Karen chill the fuck out, but also put on some weight.
Still wondering if that good ole Ed Baldwin psychology is gonna make everything all right, or if Gordo's secret will come out in the open. Voluntarily or not.
Why does Sally Ride's hair look like a bad wig?
posted by 2N2222 at 8:27 AM on March 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
Still wondering if that good ole Ed Baldwin psychology is gonna make everything all right, or if Gordo's secret will come out in the open. Voluntarily or not.
Why does Sally Ride's hair look like a bad wig?
posted by 2N2222 at 8:27 AM on March 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
Why would you bail out of a twin because of a fire in one engine?
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 9:03 AM on March 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 9:03 AM on March 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
I assume because it might explode.
posted by jonathanhughes at 12:49 PM on March 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by jonathanhughes at 12:49 PM on March 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
Alterno-NASA certainly doesn’t have what they call a good safety culture, with so many potential problems just being swept under the rug.
Danielle being assigned command of an obsolete vehicle for a political photo-op is still tokenism, but also progress.
Pathfinder doesn’t look like any historical concept vehicle that I could find, though it does have similarities to some smaller lifting body vehicles, especially the modern-day Dream Chaser. And of course, nuclear engines have been researched but never flown in our timeline.
posted by cardboard at 1:36 PM on March 13, 2021 [3 favorites]
Danielle being assigned command of an obsolete vehicle for a political photo-op is still tokenism, but also progress.
Pathfinder doesn’t look like any historical concept vehicle that I could find, though it does have similarities to some smaller lifting body vehicles, especially the modern-day Dream Chaser. And of course, nuclear engines have been researched but never flown in our timeline.
posted by cardboard at 1:36 PM on March 13, 2021 [3 favorites]
Gordo arrives as Jamestown is besieged by giant ants mutated by the busted reactor
posted by sixswitch at 3:17 PM on March 13, 2021 [16 favorites]
posted by sixswitch at 3:17 PM on March 13, 2021 [16 favorites]
Pathfinder mostly reminded me of Orbiter's XR2 SSTO, but I've since been pointed at the AMLS / Shuttle 2 proposal, which is a pretty close resemblance.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 4:09 PM on March 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 4:09 PM on March 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
Alterno-NASA certainly doesn’t have what they call a good safety culture, with so many potential problems just being swept under the rug.
I'm expecting a Challenger-like disaster this season for that reason and I really hope it's not Danielle in the mothballed Apollo. I was half-expecting the shuttle to blow up when Gordo was flipping channels, but I think that was meant as foreshadowing.
I wouldn't be surprised if they have a Vladimir Kamarov-inspired plot. Maybe Molly learns about safety issues on a launch that has to happen for political reasons and assigns herself to the doomed flight. At least I hope it'd be her. Something like Danielle refusing to stop the flight in order to save Gordo a second time would just be too grim.
posted by surlyben at 8:45 PM on March 13, 2021 [5 favorites]
I'm expecting a Challenger-like disaster this season for that reason and I really hope it's not Danielle in the mothballed Apollo. I was half-expecting the shuttle to blow up when Gordo was flipping channels, but I think that was meant as foreshadowing.
I wouldn't be surprised if they have a Vladimir Kamarov-inspired plot. Maybe Molly learns about safety issues on a launch that has to happen for political reasons and assigns herself to the doomed flight. At least I hope it'd be her. Something like Danielle refusing to stop the flight in order to save Gordo a second time would just be too grim.
posted by surlyben at 8:45 PM on March 13, 2021 [5 favorites]
Why would you bail out of a twin because of a fire in one engine?
There was a quick cut to Ed toggling the left engine fuel cutoff switch multiple times. Not sure if the T-38 has a fire suppression system but, with fuel still being dumped into the fire, Ed's best option was to punch out. Airplanes are a lot cheaper and easier to replace than pilots.
posted by nathan_teske at 9:44 AM on March 15, 2021
There was a quick cut to Ed toggling the left engine fuel cutoff switch multiple times. Not sure if the T-38 has a fire suppression system but, with fuel still being dumped into the fire, Ed's best option was to punch out. Airplanes are a lot cheaper and easier to replace than pilots.
posted by nathan_teske at 9:44 AM on March 15, 2021
Ugh throw away the Pepsi don’t spray the counter with any spray. Yuck.
I agree they did a poor job of Dr. Ride’s wash and go hair style.
I just wonder at the logistics of getting a nuke shuttle off of earth. Is it a horizontal lift and land? Do they plan to orbit or land on Mars with Pathfinder? I expect a lander to be Sojourner....
posted by tilde at 8:58 AM on March 26, 2021 [2 favorites]
I agree they did a poor job of Dr. Ride’s wash and go hair style.
I just wonder at the logistics of getting a nuke shuttle off of earth. Is it a horizontal lift and land? Do they plan to orbit or land on Mars with Pathfinder? I expect a lander to be Sojourner....
posted by tilde at 8:58 AM on March 26, 2021 [2 favorites]
Is Sam Cleveland real?
I mean so far he’s been remarkably absent in his life and his marriage. Perhaps Tracy’s just hallucinating him like Brad Pitt in Fight Club. (Which would be kind of ironic given Gordo’s experience.)
I look forward to someone finding Tracy talking to nobody in an empty chamber at Jamestown, going, “It’s amazing they sent you to the moon too, Sam! But how did you get through the training so fast?”
posted by Naberius at 9:34 PM on April 27, 2021 [7 favorites]
I mean so far he’s been remarkably absent in his life and his marriage. Perhaps Tracy’s just hallucinating him like Brad Pitt in Fight Club. (Which would be kind of ironic given Gordo’s experience.)
I look forward to someone finding Tracy talking to nobody in an empty chamber at Jamestown, going, “It’s amazing they sent you to the moon too, Sam! But how did you get through the training so fast?”
posted by Naberius at 9:34 PM on April 27, 2021 [7 favorites]
Also, since he decided to get back into astronauting, we’ve seen Ed get in two vehicles. Both times it’s ended badly, the second time considerably worse than the first. The omens are not looking great for Pathfinder.
posted by Naberius at 7:38 PM on April 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Naberius at 7:38 PM on April 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
Commenting from the future since I watched this late:
- I know they have a very poor safety culture, but they let their astronauts casually use fighter jets to transport themselves from Texas to Florida? And they don't have to contact air traffic control, and they're allowed to horse around in the air?...
- Speaking of safety culture, I think we're supposed to be sympathetic toward Ed and Gordo, but all I can see is that Gordo is a spectacularly bad risk to ship and crew and Ed is a terrible commander for not recognizing that.
In a show that seems very realistic at times this part seems like it was written by a 12-year-old.
"Hey Ed, I had two separate incidents when I nearly had panic attacks here on the ground."
"That's OK, Gordo, let's strap into some F-15s and take a joyride and then you can be an astronaut!"
posted by mmoncur at 7:29 PM on June 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
- I know they have a very poor safety culture, but they let their astronauts casually use fighter jets to transport themselves from Texas to Florida? And they don't have to contact air traffic control, and they're allowed to horse around in the air?...
- Speaking of safety culture, I think we're supposed to be sympathetic toward Ed and Gordo, but all I can see is that Gordo is a spectacularly bad risk to ship and crew and Ed is a terrible commander for not recognizing that.
In a show that seems very realistic at times this part seems like it was written by a 12-year-old.
"Hey Ed, I had two separate incidents when I nearly had panic attacks here on the ground."
"That's OK, Gordo, let's strap into some F-15s and take a joyride and then you can be an astronaut!"
posted by mmoncur at 7:29 PM on June 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
I love how everyone makes fun of Ed for awarding himself the plum piloting job and he is just unashamed of the self-potism. "Pulling a Baldwin." (Which was probably "pulling a Slayton" back in the day. RIP Deke.)
Awww, Redhead finally got something! With Ed, no less. And Danielle got a command!!!!
Ed's pep talks suck. But seriously, Gordo should not be permitted to go back into space. This should be obvious. WHAT THE FUCK IS ED THINKING WITH THIS.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:48 PM on February 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
Awww, Redhead finally got something! With Ed, no less. And Danielle got a command!!!!
Ed's pep talks suck. But seriously, Gordo should not be permitted to go back into space. This should be obvious. WHAT THE FUCK IS ED THINKING WITH THIS.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:48 PM on February 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
Even the racist Nixonite is right about Ed making bad decisions.
When we learned that Pam is now publishing poetry chapbooks in Austin, I punched the sky like my team scored a goal. I guess we did, in a way.
posted by tofu_crouton at 7:24 PM on November 5, 2023
When we learned that Pam is now publishing poetry chapbooks in Austin, I punched the sky like my team scored a goal. I guess we did, in a way.
posted by tofu_crouton at 7:24 PM on November 5, 2023
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posted by sixswitch at 11:28 AM on March 12, 2021 [4 favorites]