“Solar Impulse is a European long-range solar powered plane project being undertaken by Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg. The project eventually hopes to succeed in the first circling of the earth with a piloted fixed-wing aircraft using only solar power. The first aircraft, bearing the Swiss aircraft registration code of HB-SIA, is a single-seater, capable of taking off under its own power, and intended to remain airborne up to 36 hours. This aircraft first flew an entire diurnal solar cycle, including nearly 9 hours of night flying, in a 26-hour flight on 7–8 July 2010”. – Wikipedia


Photo: Workers prepare the Solar Impulse airplane HB-SIA for a first runway test on November 19, 2009 in Dubendorf, Switzerland. Solar Impulse chairman Bertrand Piccard, psychatrist and aeronaut, who made the first non-stop round-the-world balloon flight, and CEO and former fighter pilot Andrй Borschberg plan a round-the-world flight, driven only by solar energy, for 2012. (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images)

“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)

The British Breitling Wingwalkers, Danielle Hughes and Emily Guilding, soar above the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai at 1,500 feet (460 meters) in excess of 100mp/h, ahead of their Dubai debut performance at the 2014 UIM Skydive Dubai XCAT World Powerboating Series, on Saturday, 13th December 2014. The British team is the only aerobatic formation display team who employ full time wingwalkers and fly their two Breitling-liveried 1930's Boeing Stearman bi-planes at Air Shows and major sporting events around the world. (Photo by Katsuhiko Tokunaga/Breitling via AP Images)

“The Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird” was an advanced, long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft. It was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft in the 1960s by the Lockheed Skunk Works. Clarence “Kelly” Johnson was responsible for many of the design's innovative concepts. During reconnaissance missions the SR-71 operated at high speeds and altitudes to allow it to outrace threats. If a surface-to-air missile launch was detected, the standard evasive action was simply to accelerate and outrun the missile”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A U.S. Air Force SR-71A, also known as the “Blackbird”, is put through it's paces during a test flight over Beale Air Force Base in California. The aircraft is a strategic reconnaissance plane by Lockheed and is the world's fastest and highest flying operational aircraft. (Photo by Getty Images)

Trainees of the Tianjiao Special Guard/Security Consultant bodyguard training camp watch their instructor use a scarf to cover a student's head during a demonstration of close-quarter combat skills at a special course on flight safety inside a scale model of a passenger jet at a flight attendant training centre on the outskirts of Beijing, March 18, 2014. Inspired by the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, the company wanted to emphasize the importance of aviation safety by teaching their trainees emergency evacuation procedures and close-quarter combat skills to handle situations such as natural disasters and plane hijacks, according to the company. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

These picture look like an artist has painted abstract patterns on canvas – but in fact they are natural rivers captured on camera. The spectacular rivers in Iceland's central highlands and southern parts originate from glaciers, which is why the water is a milky colour. They are shallow rivers and the water spreads quickly over a flat and sandy surface, creating random and beautiful patterns. Photographer Andrey Ermolaev from Moscow, Russia, flew 500ft above the unique sight in a small plane. (Photo by Andrey Ermolaev/Solent News)

Taiwanese and Chinese nationals suspected of telecom fraud are surrounded by China police SWAT team and Cambodia police as they were deported to China at the International Airport of Phnom Penh, June 24, 2016. Scores of Chinese police officers swarmed the tarmac at Phnom Penh International Airport on Friday as 39 suspects arrested for their involvement in an alleged telecom scam were herded onto a chartered plane bound for China – including 25 Taiwanese nationals, whose government unsuccessfully attempted to have them repatriated. (Photo by Samrang Pring/Reuters)

Some are in it just for the money, others to help buy a meal. Then there are those who trade for fun or to spend time among friends. Millions of investors – pensioners, security guards, high-school students – dominate China's stock markets, conducting about 80 percent of all trades. Retirees gather in brokerage houses dotted around China also to enjoy some company and savour the air conditioning on hot days. Some start as young as 13, trading from home with an eye on future careers in finance. Winning isn't guaranteed. This year, among the most turbulent in China's financial history, its stock markets more than doubled in the six months to May, only to crash amid concerns that growth in the country, which makes everything from cars to steel, is slowing faster than previously thought. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)