“The McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender is an air-to-air tanker aircraft in service with the United States Air Force derived from the civilian DC-10-30 airliner. The KC-10 was the second consecutive McDonnell Douglas transport aircraft to be selected by the US Air Force following the C-9 Nightingale. The similar KDC-10 is in service with the Royal Netherlands Air Force.”

Photo: A B-52G Stratofortress aircraft takes off with another B-52G close behind. Three cells of six B-52 and KC-10 Extender aircraft will takeoff seconds apart under combat conditions during the minimum interval takeoff exercise. The exercise is a part of an operational readiness inspection by the Strategic Air Command Inspector General Team. (Photo by USAF). 1998

“SpaceShipOne was a suborbital air-launched spaceplane that completed the first manned private spaceflight in 2004. That same year, it won the US$10 million Ansari X Prize and was immediately retired from active service. Its mothership was named “White Knight”. Both craft were developed and flown by Mojave Aerospace Ventures, which was a joint venture between Paul Allen and Scaled Composites, Burt Rutan's aviation company. Allen provided the funding of approximately US$25 million”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A chase plane follows SpaceShipOne after it reached a height of 62 miles in the first non-governmental flight to leave the Earth's atmosphere on June 21, 2004 in Mojave, California. SpaceShipOne spacecraft was carried to a height of 50,000 by the twin-turbojet high-altitude research aircraft, “White Knight”, where it was launched for its final climb. The space effort was funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and headed by aerospace engineer Burt Rutan. (Photo by Jim Campbell-Pool/Getty Images)

Contestant Emilce Lezcano, center, prepares for the evening gown portion of the “Miss Gordita” beauty contest in Asuncion, Paraguay, Saturday, April 25, 2015. In their elegant evening gowns and elaborate hair styles, the contestants defy the conventional idea that only skinny women can be beautiful. (Photo by Jorge Saenz/AP Photo)

Getting it done. Felicity, an athlete at an amateur weightlifting competition in a small local gym. (Photo by Clinton Bradbury/Women in Sport Photo Action Awards 2021)

This week's full Moon as photographed from on board the International Space Station by NASA astronaut Jeff Williams on August 19, 2016. Jeff is currently Commander of the Space Station for the Expedition 48 crew. (Photo by Jeff Williams/NASA)

Supporters of former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders hold up posters at a “Black Men For Bernie” rally to gain support for third party candidates and protest the DNC during the 2016 Democratic National Convention on July 27, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP Photo)

A municipal worker sits on a bench, next to a statue, in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, during the 2018 soccer World Cup, Thursday, June 28, 2018. Nizhny Novgorod was a “closed city” during the Soviet era. It was known as Gorky until 1990 and it was here that dissident scientist Andrei Sakharov was held under house arrest. Now the city hosts six World Cup matches and is teeming with tourists. That was unthinkable in the Soviet era and even rare now in a city that is seldom visited by outsiders. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)

High-flying photographer Jeffrey Milstein, renowned for his aerial photos of US cities, snaps landmarks through the open door of a helicopter. This month he hired a chopper in London and amazingly he had just an hour to cover all the buildings he wanted to capture including Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, the glass roof of the British Museum and the Gherkin and Walkie Talkie towers in the City. Here: Jeffrey Milstein captured these stunning images through the door of a helicopter hovering over central London. (Photo by Jeffrey Milstein/Rex Features/Shutterstock)