Even after the Apollo program put astronauts on the moon, Mars remained out of reach. Then, in 1990, an ambitious engineer hatched an ingenious plan to send the first humans to the red planet. But will anyone at NASA buy into his idea?
You can binge all episodes of American Innovations exclusively and ad-free on Wondery+. Find Wondery+ in the Wondery App or ... Show More
Feb 2021
Lie Detector | The Heart of a Liar | S43-E1
<p>Humans are shockingly bad at telling whether or not someone is lying. That’s why, a century ago, psychologists and criminologists developed machines to detect lies for us, by measuring blood pressure, pulse, and breathing rate. Their lie detectors promised to revolutionize the ... Show More
40m 16s
Apr 2021
Breaking The Sound Barrier | A Bullet With Wings | S45-E1
<p>In the 1940s, as planes got faster, it seemed like they were hitting a wall -- literally. Many pilots tried to travel faster than the speed of sound, often with fatal results. Could American test pilot Chuck Yeager succeed where they had failed? Or would his daredevil attitude ... Show More
42m 38s
Jul 2023
Apollo 13 | "Houston, We’ve Had a Problem." | 1
<p>On April 11th, 1970, NASA launched Apollo 13, its third manned mission to the Moon. But two days into its journey, an explosion wiped out a major source of oxygen, limiting the ship’s water and power supplies. The three astronauts onboard found themselves stranded in a cripple ... Show More
48m 38s
Jun 2020
Encore: The Space Race | Photo Finish | 4
<p>JFK said that nothing in the 1960s was "...more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space..." than getting a man to the moon and back safely. As the Apollo 11 flight neared, the entire nation waited, enraptured. But back in the USSR, the ... Show More
39m 45s
Dec 2022
Apollo 8 Goes to the Moon
December 21, 1968. Apollo 8, the first crewed spacecraft to successfully orbit the Moon and return to Earth, launches from the Kennedy Space Center.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
16m 35s