TV Schedule for Smithsonian Channel USA

How Did They Build That? Heights & Balance

A 1.2 million square foot office building balances precariously on a 39 foot wide base in Chicago. A building named Pterodactyl lands on top of a Los Angeles parking garage. And the world's longest suspension footbridge.

How Did They Build That? Super Stadiums & Extraordinary Elevators

A 70,000-seat stadium defies seismic forces and international flight paths in LA. Zaha Hadid's dramatically twisted 33-story tower rises around ancient vaults in Malta.

How Did They Build That? Fantastic & Futuristic

Challenges beset a sculptural new transportation hub for New York's World Trade Center; Amsterdam gains a building inspired by a mountain valley; a new launchpad for space travel prepares for liftoff in the New Mexico desert.

How Did They Fix That? For-Everglades

Mike works with the Army Corps of Engineers on a massive project to restore essential flow of fresh water to the Florida Everglades. He also joins scientists, python hunters and the Miccosuke Tribe to eliminate invasive species.

How Did They Fix That? Cirque Du Soleil: High-Flying Fixes

At Cirque Du Soileil in Las Vegas, Mike embeds with the talented teams that maintain the amazing machines behind Cirque Du Soleil's stage shows.

How Did They Fix That? Aquarius Reef Base

Diving into retrofits on the world's only underwater habitat, where NASA astronauts train for space missions; Mike joins a crack repair team who breathe new life into this oceanic environment after a global pandemic shut it down.

How Did They Fix That? US Coast Guard: Safeguarding The Seas

Mike helps fix the vessels that the U.S. Coast Guard use to keep the oceans safe; he replaces key parts of ship engines, removes a large crane from a buoy tender, and fixes a helicopter for a critical exercise.

How Did They Build That? Subways & Sightlines

A sculptural high-rise with rippling balconies breaks the mold in Chicago; Mammoth machines bore 26 miles of tunnels for an underground railroad beneath London's city streets.

How Did They Build That? Mirrors & Marble

Visiting Australia's One Central Park, the Oslo Opera House and the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco to reveal their architectural secrets.

How Did They Build That? Retrofits & Airport Glitz

Visiting the Hearst Tower in Manhattan and Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore to understand how they were built; covering how designers and engineers attempt to create a museum worthy of Salvador Dali in Florida.

How Did They Build That? Shipyards & Slender Builds

A 284ft wooden skyscraper built from 1,200 bespoke pieces tests fire safety limits in Milwaukee. A decaying Amsterdam crane track transforms into elegant glass offices.

How Did They Build That? Medals & Marinas

Paying tribute to the brave, gravity-defying design of the U.S. National Medal of Honor Museum; traveling to Singapore for a look at a leaning tower of gambling, then exploring a New York City office building that lets the sun shine through.

Air Disasters Deadly Departure

After a DC-8 cargo plane with only three working engines crashes on takeoff in Kansas City, investigators uncover a flaw in the pilots' training.

Air Disasters Splash Down

Three last-resort water landings, all handled differently yet each one crucial to improving the outcomes of ditching on open water.

Air Disasters Cockpit Breakdown

Three flights end in tragedy after miscommunication mix-ups and personality clases; Investigators try to unravel what went wrong.

Air Disasters Vanishing Act

Investigators face a mystery when Varig Flight 254 disappears without a trace over the jungles of Brazil.

Air Disasters VIP on Board

Airplane crashes involving high-profile passengers put added pressure on investigators.

Air Disasters Sideswiped

A Boeing 737 leaving Panama City crashes into one of the most remote and treacherous jungles on the planet.

Air Disasters Lockerbie Disaster

A bomb explodes on Pan Am Flight 103, causing the aircraft to disintegrate in mid-air and the wreckage of the aircraft to crash into the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing all 259 people on board and 11 people on the ground.

Air Disasters Training Ignored

Investigators hunt for answers when the pilots of three aircraft skip protocols, ignore their training and crash.

Air Disasters Pressure Point

Investigators race to determine the cause of the deadliest single aircraft accident in history: the 1985 crash of Japan Airlines 123, which claimed 520 lives.

Combat Ships Destroyers and Cruisers

The ships that made mighty empires, from the lone wolves that patrolled the high seas for imperial Britain to the USS Laffey's heroic WWII battle against kamikazes at Okinawa.

Combat Ships Rescue Ships

A look at some of the rescue ships of the past 200 years of wartime and the brave men and women who risked their lives to save others.

Combat Ships Game Changers

A look at experimental ships and revolutionary designers that have changed the tide of war through the centuries.