Episode 1: The Pilot Who Turned Back

In 1956, test pilot Chuck Yeager was offered the chance to fly the X-2 — the most powerful rocket plane ever built. He passed. Three weeks later, Mel Apt climbed into the same cockpit, broke the world speed record at Mach 3.2, and died when the aircraft went into an unrecoverable spin at the edge of the atmosphere.Yeager never spoke publicly about why he turned it down.In this episode, Sloane traces the quiet decision Yeager made without fanfare or explanation — and asks what it cost him, what it saved, and what American spaceflight might have looked like if he'd said yes.Some decisions announce themselves. This one didn't.