Modern Marvels · SEASON 10

Breaking the Sound Barrier

Episode 37 · 2003-07-16

★ N/A
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Season 10Episode 37★ N/A/10
  • Documentary

Episode overview

For decades, the sound barrier loomed as an impenetrable wall against manned flight that buffeted planes with shock waves as they approached the speed of sound. Scientists thought the barrier couldn’t be breached–until the development of jet technology and rocket fuel at the end of WWII. This is the dramatic story, told through the eyes of many who were there, of the work leading up to October 10, 1947, when 24-year-old test pilot Chuck Yeager smashed through the sound barrier in a Bell EM XS-1 /EM aircraft.

44 minutes

Season 10 episodes

1. Trans-Siberian Railroad2003-01-01 2. Castles & Dungeons2003-01-07 3. Ice Road Truckers2003-01-30 4. Winter Warriors2003-01-31 5. Booby Traps2003-02-04 6. The Alcan Highway2003-02-11 7. Twin Towers of the East2003-03-04 8. The Mackinac Bridge2003-03-05 9. Bullet Trains2003-03-11 10. Non-Lethal Weapons2003-03-13 11. Space Stations2003-03-14 12. Army Corps of Engineers2003-03-18 13. Black Hawk: Night Stalker2003-03-26 14. Japanese Guns of WWII2003-03-26 15. Titanic Tech2003-04-01 16. Coal Mines2003-04-02 17. Secrets of the Acropolis2003-04-10 18. Machine Guns2003-04-30 19. Ball Turret Gunners2003-05-01 20. U.S. Guns of World War II2003-05-08 21. MiG 152003-05-10 22. T-34: Russian Victory2003-05-10 23. Tank Crews2003-05-15 24. Harley-Davidson2003-05-21 25. Torture Devices2003-05-22 26. Cosmodrome2003-05-26 27. Exterminator2003-06-03 28. Million Dollar Guns2003-06-07 29. High Voltage2003-06-24 30. 4x42003-06-22 31. Dangerous Cargo2003-06-25 32. Gunslingers2003-06-26 33. More Engineering Disasters2003-07-02 34. Engineering Disasters 42003-07-02 35. Nature Tech: Tsunamis2003-07-08 36. Logging Tech2003-07-09 37. Breaking the Sound Barrier2003-07-16 38. Car Crashes2003-07-23 39. Sandhogs2003-07-23 40. Convertibles2003-07-24 41. Loading Docks2003-07-30 42. Terror Tech: Military2003-08-05 43. Nature Tech: Tornadoes2003-08-05 44. Military Movers2003-08-06 45. Police Guns2003-08-07 46. Terror Tech: Defending the Highrise2003-08-12 47. Bullets2003-08-13 48. Aircraft Carrier2003-08-15 49. The Gunboats of Vietnam2003-08-18 50. Metal2003-08-19 51. Landmines2003-08-21 52. Space Shuttle Columbia2003-08-26 53. Overseas Highway2003-09-03 54. Terror Tech: Civilian2003-09-08 55. Machu Picchu2003-09-24 56. The PT Boats2003-09-24 57. The Battleships2003-09-24 58. Early Machine Guns2003-09-26 59. Smart Bombs2003-09-30 60. Lake Pontchartrain Causeway2003-10-15 61. Inviting Disaster 1: Three Mile Island2003-10-21 62. The Luftwaffe2003-10-22 63. Panzers2003-10-22 64. U-Boats2003-10-25 65. Inviting Disaster 2: The Kursk2003-10-28 66. FBI's Crime Lab2003-10-29 67. Inviting Disaster 3: Challenger and Columbia2003-11-04 68. Inviting Disaster 4, Building Failures2003-11-04 69. Shipyards2003-11-05 70. Guns of the Sky2003-11-07 71. Extreme Trucks2003-11-12 72. Guns of Infamy2003-11-17 73. ET Tech2003-11-25 74. Million Dollar Cars2003-11-26 75. The Technology of Lewis and Clark2003-04-28 76. B-52: Stratofortress2003-11-28 77. Extreme Sports Gadgets2003-12-02 78. Rolls Royce2003-12-02 79. Tailgating2003-12-03 80. Wheel Estate2003-12-03 81. Sports Cars2003-12-04 82. Technology of Kitty Hawk2003-12-17 83. Egyptian Pyramids2003-12-18 84. The Berlin Wall2003-12-19 85. Toys2003-12-23 86. Engineering Disasters 52003-12-30