Ayesha Farooq, 26, Pakistan's only female war-ready fighter pilot watches an airforce jet about to take off at Mushaf base in Sargodha, north Pakistan June 7, 2013. Farooq, from Punjab province's historic city of Bahawalpur, is one of 19 women who have become pilots in the Pakistan Air Force over the last decade – there are five other female fighter pilots, but they have yet to take the final tests to qualify for combat. A growing number of women have joined Pakistan's defence forces in recent years as attitudes towards women change. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)

These images have been created using a colour scanning electron microscope (SEM) by the award-winning Eye of Science, comprised of snapper Oliver Meckes and biologist Nicole Ottawa. For a decade the pair, based in Reutlingen in the south of Germany, worked with an old SEM they saved from the scrapheap, but for the last five years they have used a £250,000 FEI Quanta Series Field Emission SEM. Oliver said: “Flowers are beautiful in 'normal' view, but when you look closer, some parts get very bizarre and unexpected structures appear – flowers within flowers, worlds within worlds”. Photo: The floret of a Chamomile flower up close and personal. (Photo by Oliver Meckes/Barcroft Media)

NASA says it could be another 20 years before humans touch down on Mars, but in a sense, the Mars Society has been exploring the red planet for more than a decade – in Utah. Photo: Csilla Orgel, a geologist of Crew 125 EuroMoonMars B mission, makes her way back to the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in the Utah desert March 3, 2013. The MDRS aims to investigate the feasibility of a human exploration of Mars and uses the Utah desert's Mars-like terrain to simulate working conditions on the red planet. Scientists, students and enthusiasts work together developing field tactics and studying the terrain. All outdoor exploration is done wearing simulated spacesuits and carrying air supply packs and crews live together in a small communication base with limited amounts of electricity, food, oxygen and water. Everything needed to survive must be produced, fixed and replaced on site. (Photo by Jim Urquhart/Reuters)

While most people head for cover at the first sign of a storm, this man runs straight toward it. Storm chaser and father of three Mike Olbinski is addicted to photographing extreme weather and regularly takes on tornadoes and supercell thunderstorms in a bid to capture extraordinary images. The photographer, from Phoenix, often travels hundreds of miles a day to reach the eye of a storm. He first became hooked on the unusual hobby almost a decade ago, following the birth of his daughter. Here: A stunning monsoon sunset coupled with intense lightning creating an amazing scene on August 26, 2017. (Photo by Mike Olbinski/Caters News Agency)

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from historic launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, February 6, 2018. The world' s most powerful rocket, SpaceX' s Falcon Heavy, blasted off Tuesday on its highly anticipated maiden test flight, carrying CEO Elon Musk' s cherry red Tesla roadster to an orbit near Mars. Screams and cheers erupted at Cape Canaveral, Florida as the massive rocket fired its 27 engines and rumbled into the blue sky over the same NASA launchpad that served as a base for the US missions to Moon four decades ago. (Photo by Thom Baur/Reuters)

When Dutch photographer Marcel Heijnen moved to Hong Kong, the territory’s shop cats instantly caught his eye. While the “feline emperors” are the stars, his shots also offer insights into Hong Kong’s wares, from dried fish to paper. Here: Hong Kong Shop Cats #17. (Photo by Marcel Heijnen/Blue Lotus)

Bangladeshi relatives wail near bodies of victims after a river ferry carrying about 100 passengers capsized Sunday after being hit by a cargo vessel,in Manikganj district, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, February 22, 2015. (Photo by A. M. Ahad/AP Photo)

People celebrate after Gov. Ricardo Rossello announced that he is resigning Aug. 2 after weeks of protests over leaked obscene, misogynistic online chats, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, July 25, 2019. (Photo by Carlos Giusti/AP Photo)