Inventing the jet engine came with a few disasters

It's 1977 and the Pentagon has just launched a top secret pilot program. Its purpose: to train U.S. fighter forces in air-to-air tactics against the Russian-made MiG fighter plane.

This secret program helped U.S. pilots defeat MiGs (2:26)

When the lunar module starts guiding Apollo 11 in the wrong direction, experienced astronaut Neil Armstrong has to take manual control and fly the module down to the surface of the Moon.

The Moon landing was a disaster...almost (4:25)

It's January 1991 and a USAF pilot is in trouble. An Iraqi MiG has locked on to his plane and is preparing to take him down. The next decision he makes will have to be perfect—or it could be his last.

The intense dogfight between a U.S. pilot and an Iraqi MiG (3:36)

According to the Nazis, the origin of Nordic people could be traced all the way back to Atlantis. To support this dubious claim, no less a figure than Heinrich Himmler sent out teams of archaeologists to dig up proof.

How the island of Atlantis played a central role in Nazi beliefs (3:41)

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens became the largest and most destructive volcanic eruption in U.S. history. By the end of its cycle of fire and fury, 57 people had died.

Footage of the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption (3:47)

Aviation pioneer Wiley Post needed an oxygenated pressure suit to survive a high-altitude transcontinental flight. Enter engineer Russell Colley—who sewed the material for the suit on his wife's sewing machine.

This pressure suit helped pilots survive new heights (3:59)

In the early 1900s, a New Zealand farmer named Richard Pearse built what looked like a flying bicycle. Some of the ideas he developed are now standard in modern aviation.

This New Zealand farmer revolutionized modern planes (1:20)

One big challenge facing Jaguar in its switch from steel to aluminum was how to utilize this lighter, less flexible alloy. For inspiration, they turned to an entirely new field: aerospace.

Why Jaguar uses aerospace aluminum to build its cars (3:09)

Without Nicholas Straussler, D-Day wouldn't have been possible. He came up with the design for the Duplex Drives tanks—a key part of the initial invasion at Normandy.

This inventor made the famed D-Day swimming tanks (2:47)