Kelly Baldwin

> In a gas, the elements are too far apart to find each other. In solids, they can't get close enough. But liquid... liquid is perfect. And I was gonna find it...in a place it had no right surviving.
>
> Kelly Baldwin, Season 4, Episode 2, "Have A Nice Sol"

**Kelly Ann Baldwin**, born as **Nguyễn Thị Hạnh** in VietnamW, is the adopted daughter of Edward and Karen Baldwin. The Baldwins adopted her after their son, Shane, died in 1974.

Kelly was selected by her father to be part of the first manned crew to Mars. During her time on Happy Valley, she fell in love with Soviet Cosmonaut Alexei Poletov and the two concieved a child. However, Alexei would pass away before they learned of their child due to fallout from the Gagarin Ridge drilling disaster.

Years later, Kelly continued to seek life on Mars. But when she learned her ambitions weren't a top priority at NASA, she left the company and teamed with Aleida Rosales to search for private funding. This was later achieved when they convinced Dev Ayesa to return to the fold and take majority control of Helios Aerospace.

## History

### Early life

Nguyen Thi Hanh was born and raised in SaigonW, South VietnamW on July 14th, 1966. As a child, her country suffered from the Vietnam WarW and on April 3rd, 1972, she was boarded onto an American C-5A Galaxy transport aircraft along with many other refugees as part of Operation BabyliftW. The plane crashed in a field shortly after takeoff. Hanh was among 47 children to be rescued.

Later, she was relocated the the United States, where she was adopted by Edward and Karen Baldwin.

### Season 2

Ed makes it to Outpost and goes directly to Karen's office, who tells him that thanks to her work, she would be able to pay off the second mortgage on the house the following month a full year ahead of schedule. He congratulates her and they are brought spaghetti by their adopted daughter Kelly, who mentions that she had not been able to look at the college catalogue Karen had given her. Karen mentions that one of the colleges had a great theater program, but Ed tells her that engineering, physics, computer science are careers for "the future." However, Karen reminds him that they would not push her into studying something she did not want, and Ed agreed.

Some other day, Karen makes Kelly and Ed breakfast. Kelly is in her room, but leaves to have breakfast with her family, hiding an AnnapolisW brochure she was reading.

Later, Danny and Jimmy Stevens are hanging out with their friends, where Danny tells them all that after the first month, everything was easier. Kelly asks him if he had been able to ride on an aircraft carrier, and he says that he had, saying that the best part was seeing a TomcatW come in for a landing since it was a cold stop.

Karen talks to Kelly and talks about different places they could visit while looking for colleges. However, Kelly interrupts her and asks if they could go to Annapolis, the naval academy since she wanted to apply. Karen is surprised, but Kelly insists that she had thought about it for a long time now since she wanted to fly F-14 Tomcats, but Karen is not happy with her decision.

Kelly looks at a brochure about life in Annapolis, but goes to the air vent in her room and finds some toys. She gets a knock on her door from Karen, who she tells she is fine. Karen asks her daughter to tell her that joining the navy was what she really wanted and Kelly confirms that it was not a whim since she wanted to do something with her life, while making a difference and not writing essays. She also says that she wanted to make a difference like Ed. Karen says that she knows the feeling having lived with Ed, but also comments that Ed had payed a heavy toll and had not lived a normal life, but one filled with stress, danger and had missed time with her. When Karen was about to say that Ed had missed time with Shane, she stopped herself and said that he missed a lot. Kelly asked if Karen meant Shane, and she confirms this, saying that he had missed a lot of time with him. Kelly reveals the Popeye toy figure she had gotten out of the air vent; Karen mentioned that Popeye was Shane's favorite, and Kelly tells her that she always knew that that was his room and sometimes felt like Shane was listening to her, which Karen could understand. Karen tells her that they had considered moving at first, but says that after Kelly had come along, everything was good again, also agreeing to let Kelly go to Annapolis, which excited her daughter.

Ed got home and walked in, seeing Karen and Kelly happy. He is surprised to see actual dinner being made and asks if it is a special occasion. Karen says that it is since Kelly had finally decided where she wanted to go. Kelly tells him that she had decided on Annapolis, which surprises him, and he refuses, getting angry and telling Kelly to go to her room.

As he left the house, Karen told him to stop and discuss it. Ed says that he is the man of the house and did not need to explain himself to anyone, and when Kelly told him that she did not need his permission to apply, Ed said that he knew the superintendent of the academy, so with one phone call, she would be rejected. Kelly says that if he does that, she would go to the recruiting office and go to Annapolis as an enlisted sailor. Ed said that she could do that, but said that she should pack her bags an never come back. Karen tells him to take it back, and pushes him, while saying that she did not know what had gotten into him.

Kelly tells Karen to stop and starts crying, saying that whatever had happened, she did not want it to continue. Ed agrees, and so does Karen. He apologizes for having said what he said, also saying that he did not want her to leave. Kelly asks Ed what was going on, but Ed said that he did not know and had suddenly reacted and knew that he should be proud, but had gotten an overwhelming feeling that he was going to lose her as in her dying, like Shane. Ed starts crying and Karen says that she had the same feeling, but reminds him that Shane had died while biking down the street, mentioning that there was nowhere on Earth that was safe. Ed says that he was not there when Shane died and was not there for anyone, only being able to scream into the night. He mentions that he had promised himself never to let that happen again, always being there for Karen and Kelly to protect them. Karen asks Ed if he thinks that it was his fault, and he says that Shane had been angry at him and he was not on Earth, but Karen tells him that it had been an accident and says that thinking back to that day was just torturing themselves. The three hug each other and Kelly gives Ed the Popeye action figure. Karen tells him that she remembers when he wanted to join the navy, also mentioning that both of them ended up in the navy, with Shane wanting to be in the navy as well. Kelly starts singing a navy song, and both her parents join in.

Karen wakes up at night to a phone call. She and Kelly sit at the breakfast table, and she tells her daughter that she was devastated by the phone call and could not live like that. Although Kelly tries to comfort her mother Karen is not convinced. The phone rings and Kelly picks up, and is told that Ed was fine. Karen says that it was good for Kelly to know what it was like when situations like this happened.

Later, Ed arrives at the house, they both worry since he looks terrible, but he mentions that all that happened was that he had gotten wet. Ed apologizes, but Karen seems a little off, and says she would go to work even though it was 6 A.M. Ed turns to Kelly, who tells him that it had been a long night for both of them.

Danny is having dinner with Karen and Kelly. When Ed joins them, he salutes Ed, who tells him to stand down. As soon as Ed sat down, Danny left. Karen told Ed that she did not think he would be joining them, and Kelly brought Ed a plate, but also left. Ed tries to break the silence between him and Karen by saying he wanted to watch a movie, but she spoils it for him and leaves him to eat dinner alone.

The Baldwin family watches the news, which mentions that people are protesting the launch of the Sea Dragon, since it contained nuclear fuel. Karen says that it does not seem very safe, and asks what would happen if it exploded in the atmosphere, and Ed mentioned that was why the launch was in the middle of nowhere. The launch begins, and after it successfully lifted off, Ed reassured her that there was nothing to worry about, which did not convince her. Kelly asks Ed what he had written his essay about when he had gotten into Annapolis, but Ed said he did not remember, and told her to simply tell them who she was, which left her stumped. She asks Ed why they had adopted her, and Ed tells her that when they walked into the adoption center, they saw her help a kid with a puzzle, being kind and patient and tells her that they knew right away. Karen told her that it was love at first sight, and Ed agreed. However, Kelly asked why they did not have another baby. Karen tells her that she had some medical issues, and Ed had been living away from Karen for a while, since it was a difficult time after Shane died. They remember getting excited over adopting a Vietnamese baby, which makes Kelly think she only served as their band-aid, but Karen tells her that she was their heart transplant.

Kelly wrote her essay, but was having a hard time, so she grabbed a book and got the number of the Houston adoption center.

Ed asks Kelly what she wants for dinner as she picks up the mail from the floor. She goes to her room and opens a package sent from Vietnam which contains a record of birth. She discovers that she was born on July 14, 1966 as Thi Hanh Nguyen and that her biological mother, Pham Thi Binh, whose occupation is listed was "Nurse", was declared dead in childbirth. She looks at a picture of her biological parents and starts to cry. After that she turns on her computer and sends a D-mail to the Department of DefenseW and asks for the location of her biological father, Nguyen Van Le, a former interpreter in the Army of the Republic of VietnamW's 18th Infantry Division.

Kelly reads the D-mail reply sent to her, which provides the address of Nguyed Van Le who immigrated to the United States in 1978 and is living in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas-Fort Worth.

Kelly drives to Little Saigon diner, walking in and being seated right away. She looks around at other Vietnamese families and is comforted by the hostess, who tells her if she likes Chinese food, she would probably like Vietnamese food. The hostess tells her that her father was the cook and gives her recommendations on what to eat, which Kelly likes.

She enjoys the food and asks the hostess to sit with her. The hostess tells Kelly that her father had cut all ties to his mother when he had left Vietnam and does not talk about his family much, while her mother was not there that day. The hostess tells her she is American and gives her the check, but Kelly gets up to look at photos they had close to the back. She finds one and sees her parents on it, turning around to see the chef who looks her in the eye and turns. She pays the hostess and leaves.

Kelly watches the news while Karen cooks. While Kelly talks about what she sees, Karen does not pay attention and tells her to get everything ready for when Ed got home. However Ed walks in and tells them that he could not stay since he had to leave, but wanted to say goodbye to them both. Karen does not pay much attention to Ed, though and simply cooks until she interrupts Kelly to tell her that Ed could not promise them that he would be okay since it was unrealistic, which Ed says is right. They hug, and Ed asks Karen if she could walk him to the car.

At Outpost, Karen pours herself a drink and is joined by Kelly, telling her that she had sold it. She tells her daughter that she sold it because it seemed right and tells her that she did not know what she would do now. Kelly tells her that she could not imagine her doing nothing and is told that maybe Karen would go to India or go back to college. Kelly asks her if she and Ed would be getting a divorce when a siren started sounding. An emergency broadcast started to sound and they both go downstairs.

Karen and Kelly watch the news. Kelly tells Karen that she went to see her birth father after looking him up. Karen is in shock and says that she did not know her daughter wanted to meet him, but Karen tells her it is okay and asks her what she was like. However, Kelly tells her that she did not even talk to him since they both had their lives and families.

Later, at Tracy and Gordo Stevens' graves, Ed cries and leaves a deck of cards on top of Gordo's. Molly Cobb, Ellen Wilson, Danielle Poole, Jimmy, Danny, Karen and Kelly cry as well. Karen leaves Tracy flowers.

After the funeral, Ed and Karen hug and both go their separate ways after Kelly hugs him as well.

### Season 3

By 1992, Kelly is a scientist working at McMurdo Station in AntarcticaW. During the wedding of Danny Stevens and Amber on the Polaris Orbital Hotel, a video message of Kelly congratulating the two is played on a TV screen.

After the Polaris incident, Kelly is talking with Ed in a video call. He tells her that he split up with Yvonne, which Kelly calls "a new record", as the relationship lasted less than a year. Her father also tells her about his allocation for NASA's first crewed mission to Mars in 1996, and invites her to join him.

When Ed is cancelled as NASA's Mars mission commander by Margo Madison later on and then invited to lead Helios' mission instead, Kelly decides to stay with NASA, as their mission is supposed to be more scientifically oriented. She askes Danielle Poole to take her into her team as the biologist. After she gets confirmation from Danielle, she tells her parents at dinner at the Outpost. Ed is not amused at first, but then he tells her that her country will be very proud of her.

During the journey to Mars on Sojourner 1, Kelly runs her own Outer Space Pirate Radio, which she broadcasts to the other competitors using music from her iPod.

During her time on Mars, Kelly is impregnated by cosmonaut and love interest Alexei Poletov. Due to medical complications, Kelly needs to return to Phoenix in order to deliver the baby early, since the ship has Earth-like gravity due to its rotating habitatiton ring. However, the MSAM does not have enough fuel to reach the ship in orbit. This results in an intense plan in which Kelly is strapped to the top of the MSAM as Ed pilots it. The plan succeeds, and later on Kelly is seen cradling her newborn child, while looking down at the red planet through her room's window.

### Season 4

After returning to Earth, Kelly is raising her son, who she has named Alex after his father Alexei. Alexei's mother Olga is living with Kelly to help raise Alex, although Kelly wouldn't be upset if she went back to Omsk. She is upset at her own father for remaining on Mars, as she wishes he would return to help her with Alex.

In 2003, Kelly is working at the Carl Sagan Center for Planetary Science as part of a team to find life on Mars. Despite discovering methane deposits that could indicate life, her research is postponed by NASA administrator Eli Hobson, who cites budget cuts. After drowning her sorrows at Julio's Tex-Mex with Aleida Rosales, who has had her own troubles with NASA, Aleida comes up with a plan for Kelly's work to obtain private funding, proposing to work together on this plan, although Kelly is hesitant, as it would mean leaving NASA.

Kelly and Aleida make several pitches to private Aerospace companies but were all rejected due to different priorities. In a last ditch effort, Kelly and Aleida make a pitch to Dev Ayesa. However, although Dev was impressed with Kelly's reports from NASA, he shoots down their pitch due to a lack of return of investment. Kelly called Dev out, as he used to be passionate about space exploration and less on profits. But Dev told Kelly that Karen helped him show who people really are.

When Kelly and Aleida returned to the former's home, they were surprised to find Dev, who had a change of heart. He devised a plan to reach out to shareholders who would be willing to sign their shares over in a hostile takeover of Helios Aerospace. After they recieved the shares, Kelly, Aleida, and Dev interrupted a Helios board meeting, where Dev removed everyone who opposed his Mars ambitions.

After Dev announces that he will be travelling to Mars, he asks Kelly to accompany him to train the S.E.E.K.E.R. crew on the journey. At first she declines as she wishes to stay with her son, but later agrees as long as she can take Alex with her. Dev agrees.

## Notes

1. ↑ There is some discrepancy in the story concerning Kelly's Vietnamese relatives, and her backstory in general:

	* In the d-mail Kelly received from DoD in episode 2x07 it is stated that her father immigrated to the United States in 1978. The girl who served Kelly in her father's restaurant in 2x08, Kelly's half-sister Linh, said she was born in the US after her father came here. That would make her only 4-5 years old by 1983, the time season 2 plays in.

	* Kelly was born in 1966 and is 17 by 1983. Linh looks younger, but not too much. The Vietnam War ended in 1970 in the show's timeline. There was a paper with date 1970 in the dossier Kelly received, however written in Vietnamese. If 1970 would be her father's immigration year, that could make Linh about 13 years old and would make more sense.

	* Shane died in December 1974, after which Ed and Karen lived seperated for a while. Then they saw a report on TV about "Operation Babylift" and all the Vietnamese children brought to the US, as told in 2x06. This would imply that "Operation Babylift" happened in 1975, like in reality, although the war was over for 5 years at that time. However, at the end of episode 2x10, Kelly said that she was on board the plane that crashed during "Operation Babylift" on April 3, 1972, so there seem to be another discrepancy here.

	* In reality, the plane accidentW happened on April 4 (or 3 or 5, depending on source) 1975. It also seems somehow implausible that the same accident with the same type of plane happened at the same date but exactly 3 years earlier.

## See also

* Edward Baldwin
* Karen Baldwin
* Alexei Poletov

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Season 2, Episode 7: "Don't Be Cruel" (D-mail answer from DoD @ 57:01 → Screenshot)
2. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 2, Episode 10: "The Grey"
3. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 2, Episode 1: "Every Little Thing"
4. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 2, Episode 2: "The Bleeding Edge"
5. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 2, Episode 7: "Don't Be Cruel"
6. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 2, Episode 8: "And Here's to You"
7. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 3, Episode 1: "Polaris"
8. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 3, Episode 2: "Game Changer"
9. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 3, Episode 3: "All In"
10. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 3, Episode 4: "Happy Valley"
11. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 3 (Episodes 8-10)
12. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 1: "Glasnost"
13. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 2: "Have A Nice Sol"
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 3: "The Bear Hug"
15. ↑ *For All Mankind* TV Series - Season 4, Episode 5: "Goldilocks"