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Faster Than Sound
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Program Overview
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Until fifty years ago, a speed limit called the sound barrier ruled
the skies. Pilots who attempted to fly near the speed of sound
experienced unexpected conditions—increase in drag, loss of
lift and control, and violent shaking—which often led to
planes crashing. In 1947, pilot Chuck Yeager flew an aircraft
through the sound barrier and lived to tell about it, making the
sound barrier no longer a barrier after all. NOVA explores the
human, historical, technological, and political issues surrounding
the effort to design airplanes able to safely fly faster than the
speed of sound and investigates the scientists and pilots who tested
these limits.
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