大象传媒

Latifa Nabizada and her sister Laliuma became Afghanistan's first women military helicopter pilots in 1989. They travelled to some of the most dangerous and remote parts of the country to transport soldiers, supplies and hospital patients. Five years ago Laliuma died in childbirth, so Latifa likes to keep her own precious daughter close. In fact, five year old Malalai often flies in the cockpit with her mother - and she's been doing that since she was two months old.

Also in the programme, Sainkho Namtchylak is one of Central Asia's best known singers. Born in the Russian republic of Tuva, trained in Moscow and now based in Vienna, she's widely credited with popularizing Tuvan traditional music and respected for her experiments in avant-garde jazz and electronic fusions. She's causing quite a stir because she's a female performer in the traditionally male-dominated world of throat singing.

Kevin Fong is a British doctor who founded the Centre for Altitude, Space and Extreme Environment Medicine, which studies the effects of extreme environments on the human body. His own life-long ambition to become an astronaut has taken him on zero-gravity flights with NASA - but that's as close as he got. He's now written a book about the extremes the human body can withstand - both on earth and in space.

Jan Lachner from Paris is an engineer by training, but in the last year and a half has tried 32 different occupations. Bored with life and keen to experience other countries, Jan came up with the "euro jobs project" and has set himself the target of undertaking work in every European country.

Picture: Afghan Military pilot Latifa Nabizada standing in front of a helicopter
Picture Credit: SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images