Dev Ayesa

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## Professional Information

### Occupation

Entrepreneur
CEO of Helios

## Series Information

### Seasons

Three, Four

> The lesson of Icarus is not "Don't fly to close to the sun", it's make better f\*cking wings. The best way to seize the future, is to invent it.
>
> Dev Ayesa, in Season 4, Episode 3, "The Bear Hug"

**Dev Ayesa** is an American engineer and entrepreneur and was the co-founder of Helios Aerospace, together with his partner Richard Hilliard. In 1995, he was removed from his position as CEO of the company and later founded a new robotics company. In 2003, he took back his old company and fired then CEO and former partner Hilliard.

## History

### Background

Dev's father was a Kenyan immigrant who became an aerospace engineer in the US. He later worked for Kirkland Aerospace in Illinois, building components for the Saturn V rocket. After Apollo 23 exploded on the launch pad in August 1974, the whole Saturn V team was replaced and his father lost his job and couldn't find another one to save his life. He never really recovered from that and passed away before Dev graduated college.

### Season 3

#### Helios Aerospace

Around 1986, Dev and his partner Richard Hilliard developed the first working nuclear fusion reactorW. They eventually founded Helios Aerospace, which won a NASA contract for the mining of Helium-3 on the Moon in April 1987.

#### Mars Mission

*This section is currently incomplete. You can help by expanding it! Click here to add more.*
After the disasterous incident on the orbital hotel Polaris, Dev seized the opportunity to purchase the space station to repurpose it into *Phoenix*, Helios' spacecraft for its planned mission to Mars. Later, Dev was approached by Karen Baldwin to recruit her former husband Ed Baldwin as the commander of that mission, after Ed was passed on the Sojourner mission by NASA. After a collective agreement, Dev announced to the world on Helios' plan to begin their mission two full years before the scheduled NASA and Roscosmos missions.

### Season 4

In 2000, 5 years after being ousted from his own company, Dev founded a new robotics company. Following this, Kelly Baldwin would use his robotics during tests at NASA on a project to find life on Mars.

#### Return to Helios

After NASA wouldn't fund further projects for Kelly after the asteroid disaster, Dev was reached out to by her and Aleida Rosales to help fund their project called S.E.E.K.E.R.. Dev declined, as though the results are promising, there wasn't any return on investment for him. Kelly called him out, as Dev used to be passionate about exploration, and instead now thinking of himself. But Dev told Kelly that Karen helped him see who people really are.

However, Dev contemplated on the pitch and ultimately decided to work with the two. He pitched to the two on collecting shares from loyal ex-employees to gain majority stake in Helios. After getting the shares signed over, Dev, along with Kelly and Aleida, stormed a Helios board meeting and announced he was the new CEO. He then fired every person who ever opposed his Mars ambitions, including Richard Hilliard and many key board members.

After the Vasily Galkin accident, Dev was interviewed by an NNC anchor if the incident would impact Helios' financial position. Dev stated that because they were a multi-national organization, they didn't have a dog in the fight. Dev then closed, standing firm on his original vision to build a thriving colony on Mars, one that anyone can make the journey for.

#### Leaving for Mars

After the Goldilocks asteroid was discovered, Dev made the spontaenous announcement he would be leaving for Mars. When confronted about it by Kelly and Aleida, Dev told Aleida she would be left in charge with the negotiations with the Mars-7 Alliance, as well as proposed Kelly to follow him to lead the search of microbial life, though Kelly had reservations due to having to leave her son behind.

Dev later visited his mother Malaika to share his announcement, and that he didn't plan on returning home. When his mother implored him to reconsider, Dev blamed her for ruining his father's ambitions and they should only part as friends. Later, Kelly told Dev she would go with him if she could bring Alex along, believing Alex's health conditions could actually improve on Mars. While mulling over his last conversation with his mother, Dev agreed, telling Kelly that Alex would be welcome.

#### Arrival on Mars

Dev arrives on Mars with Kelly and Alex, during the journey to the surface, Dev reassures Alex that the turbulence they are feeling is normal, and points out the canyon that will be their new home. Dev is welcomed to Mars by Helios Chief and base XO Palmer James who apologises for the current strike among the Helios workers and offers to show him around the base, before being cut off by Danielle Poole who says that she has to speak with him. Dani asks Dev in his quarters about his plans for the strike, Dev says that he is still making his decision. Dani tries to pressure him, but he thanks her for showing him to his room. She reminds him that as CO of the base, what she says goes, before leaving.

The strike continues, with an accident in the cryo plant killing one worker and injuring four others, after they had tried to bypass a regulator that the striking workers had removed. During an impromptu meeting of the striking workers, Dev enters and creates a line on the ground out of sugar and informs them that he is impressed by their negotiations and their resolve, but the nations of Earth will not allow the Goldilocks asteroid to be mined in Mar's orbit, and that they need to get back to work. He offers them a deal that will ensure their safety, as well as offering the first 100 workers to cross the line over $1 million. One by one Helios workers begin to cross it, as Ed and Samantha Massey try to tell them to stop. By the end only 5 workers including Ed and Samantha remain, the rest having taken the deal. Ed tells Dev that he has killed Mars.

#### Asteroid theft

Dev later visit's Ed's quarters. Ed responds angrily to his visit, before Dev says that he was not surprised that the workers had acted with greed, and that he needed to test Ed's resolve. Dev talks about their shared ambition for a Martian colony, before asking Ed if he wants to steal an asteroid. The two round up the remaining hold outs, where Dev details the plan. By ensuring *Ranger* burns for 25 minutes instead of 20, Goldilocks will be trapped in Martian orbit. Instead of simply utilizing a gravity assistW on it's way to Earth. To facilitate this they need to build their own Ops-Comm and have Samantha swap out a discriminator box on *Ranger* so they can remotely control it. The group manage to build their own Ghost Ops by stealing the equipment necessary, utilizing Miles Dale to smuggle it. The discriminator box is obtained when Alex Poletov crawls through vent ducts that would be too small for the adult members of the team.

Kelly manages to discover vast methane deposits in her search for microbial life at Korolev crater, although Dev is distracted during her post mission review. Being more interested in playing with Alex.

The plot hits a snag when Samantha is unable to switch out the discriminator box after a month onboard *Ranger*. In order to have a greater view of the situation, Miles and Ed enlist Lee Jung-Gil to place a relay on the secret North Korean feed of the base. This allows the team to discover that Samantha has been successful, giving control of *Ranger*. Unfortunately the relay is discovered by North Korean Commander Cho Byung Ho. During Cho's complaints to Danielle, he mentions Miles name. This leads to him being investigated by KGB and CIA assets on the base, as well as Cho himself. Miles then forcefully interrogated, while Cho discovers the location of Ghost Ops, but is choked unconscious by Lee once he does.

## Gallery

*See also: Image gallery of Dev Ayesa*
Ayesa & Hilliard fusion pioneersDev Ayesa in the newsDev Ayesa on the *Time* magazineDev talking to Karen about PolarisHelios' Mars Mission announcementDev Ayesa & Ed BaldwinDev Ayesa at the IAC 1992 in LondonDev Ayesa at JSCNew company in 2000Dev's house in 2003Dev in the news, 2003
## Behind the scenes

* The character of Dev Ayesa is loosely based on several real life personalities, like Elon MuskW, Steve JobsW, and Jeff BezosW, with Helios Aerospace mirroring a mixture of SpaceXW, GoogleW, and other tech companies.

## See also

* Helios Aerospace
* Richard Hilliard
* Malaika Ayesa

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 3, Episode 1: "Polaris" (Press review opening)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 AppleTV+ Bonus Video: Another Giant Leap: 1984-1992: Clean Nuclear Energy (1987)
3. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 3, Episode 9: "Coming Home"
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 1: "Glasnost" (Press review)
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 3: "The Bear Hug"
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 3, Episode 2: "Game Changer"
7. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 3, Episode 8: "The Sands of Ares"
8. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 2: "Have A Nice Sol"
9. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 4: "House Divided"
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 5: "Goldilocks"
11. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 7: "Crossing The Line"
12. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 8: "Legacy"
13. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 9: "Brazil"
14. ↑   inverse.com: Showrunner Ben Nedivi on *Inverse*, June 9, 2022 *(Archived 2023-09-25)*