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Join Wundery Plus in the Wundery app or on Apple Podcasts. It's October 10th, 1947, 40,000 feet above the Mojave Desert in California.

24-year-old First Lieutenant Chuck Yeager holds the controls of his X-1 aircraft

as it speeds through the sky.

He gently pushes a lever forward, increasing the thrust of his jet engines.

The aircraft responds, and Chuck watches the airspeed indicator creep up to Mach.

997 or almost 700 miles per hour faster than any human has flown before.

Although breaking the airspeed record is a remarkable achievement, that's not the point of today's mission.

The aim of this experimental plane isn't just to fly faster than anyone has gone before.

It's to eventually go faster than the speed of sound. Today's

flight is another step toward achieving that goal. Chuck reports over the

radio that he's hit the target speed, the last objective they need to check off before

attempting to break the sounder.

And so with today's mission accomplished, he gently pulls back on the stick, aiming to lift the

plane's nose to slow it down.

But nothing happens.

Chuck pulls on the controls harder, but it still has no effect.

A sense of horror grips Chuck as he realizes he's lost control of the X1. But Chuck's training kicks in and he

forces himself to think logically. He reaches for another lever and eases back the throttle.

And as the plane decelerates, Chuck tries moving the controls again.

This time, the nose does lift, although it's slow to respond.

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