Why did the asteroid mission fail in For All Mankind?

Russian and America are still getting to the bottom of the failed asteroid mission from the For All Mankind Season 4 premiere. Margo has figured it out.

For All Mankind Season 4 opened with a devastating event. We said goodbye to a fan-favorite character as the asteroid mission failed. Of course, this failure is a driving force in Margo finding a way to make herself useful in Russia.

In the middle of the coup, which is happening 10 years later than it did in real life, Margo has found a way into the space program to share her expertise. She is tasked with figuring out why the asteroid mission failed, and she does just that. However, it does come with some consequences for another Russian.

Margo finds the fault in the asteroid mission in For All Mankind

Margo scoured through everything about the asteroid mission, figuring out that the fault lied on the Russian side. There was a manufacturing error in the asteroid anchor belts.

That part of the mission was overseen by a Russian, Kirill. To make matters worse, Kirill knew about the fault. He chose to not say anything about it. I guess he thought that despite all the errors that have been caught in the past, he didn’t think that this one would come up.

This does show a problem with the Soviet way of life, I guess. Was he too scared to share that there was a fault and decided to hope that it wouldn’t come up? I’m not sure we’ll ever find out his thinking, as he is taken away by the KGB for his actions. We all know what will happen to him. How will Margo feel knowing that she has sent the man to this fate all because of a mistake? There’s one thing being fired for this, but tortured and killed by the KGB for this isn’t fair.

But, to the Russians, Kirill not saying anything was a crime. Margo needs to watch out for herself now. She is finally where she wants to be to help with the space program, but that means a risk to her own life for a mistake.

For All Mankind airs on Fridays on Apple TV+.