A few days ago, a small submersible was trapped at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean at 3,800 meters, which attracted global attention, and rescue is currently underway. There were reportedly three paying passengers on board the submersible, who paid $250,000 each just to be able to see the wreck of the Titanic up close at the bottom of the sea. In addition to going to the bottom of the sea to see shipwrecks, some wealthy explorers in the world often do amazing things. This incident is not the first time that these billionaires have been widely concerned by the media in various countries because of their risky moves, spending millions on specially made planes and spending tens of millions on space... These actions, which are only to satisfy curiosity and freshness, seem outrageous to ordinary people. Does "banknote capability" solve everything? Judging from the unexpected events of this Titanic tour, the answer is still no.
Billionaire Hamish Harding
Spend 47 hours flying across the North and South Poles
One of the people trapped in the small submersible is Hamish Harding, a billionaire and adventure enthusiast who flew into space with Blue Origin and explored the Mariana Trench.
In 2019, Hamish Harding completed a round-the-world trip in just 46 hours, 39 minutes and 38 seconds, setting a record for the fastest world trip. At 13:32 local time on July 9, he took off from the Kennedy Aviation Center on a plane, passed through the north and south poles, and finally returned to the Kennedy Aviation Center at 12:12 on July 11, with a total route of 40,233 kilometers.
On June 4, 2022, Hamish Harding and five others boarded a rocket into subspace orbit. The event was initiated by Blue Origin, a commercial space company owned by Amazon's CEO, as the company's fifth manned flight event.
Multiple adventurers
Dive deep into the Mariana Trench
On March 29, 2012, the famous director Cameron successfully dived his one-man deep submersible "Deep Sea Challenger" to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the world ocean. He dived to a depth of 35,756 feet (10,898 meters). Most of the water depth of the Mariana Trench is more than 8,000 meters, and the maximum water depth is in the Phaichalls Abyss, which is 11,034 meters, which is the deepest point on Earth.
Cameron (left) and his deep submersible. Image source/network
To reach this depth, Cameron and his team spent seven years designing a deep submersible that could accomplish this mission, the 24-foot (7-meter) Deep Sea Challenger. Cameron's deep-sea challenge is also of great scientific significance, as he completed 13 dives aboard the Deep Sea Challenger and discovered 68 new species.
Also enjoying diving in the Mariana Trench is American explorer Viktor Veskovo, who broke Cameron's Mariana Trench diving record. On May 13, 2019, Victor Veskovo, a retired U.S. Navy officer and private equity investor, issued a statement saying that he drove his submarine down to 10,927 meters above sea level in the Mariana Trench, breaking the previous record for deep diving.
During the three-week expedition, Weskovo and his team dived to the bottom of the trench a total of five times, the longest of which lasted four hours. The team deployed robots to explore remote terrain, and in the deepest part of the seabed, in addition to spotting some new species, Veskovo also saw plastic waste everywhere in human settlements.
Musk with his wife
Challenge the flight to walk on the wing
On August 10, 2015, according to the British "Daily Mail" reported on August 10, recently, in Hampshire, England, American billionaire Elon Musk and her wife Delula Riley conducted a wing walk challenge on a biplane flying at 210 kilometers per hour.
Musk used to experience wing walking. Image source/network
At the time, Musk completed a "walk on the wing" with the Breitling Wing Walk performance team, and afterwards, he posted photos on social platforms to share his unique weekend activities.
Musk and his wife Delula Riley participated in an adventure with the Breitling Wing Walk performance team in Hampshire, England. According to an advertisement posted on Breitling's website, the wing-walking project was flying at a speed of 130 miles per hour (about 210 kilometers per hour), and Musk recorded that the adventure was successful.
Branson and Bezos
Take a rocket into space to experience weightlessness
On July 11, 2021, 71-year-old Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, completed its first full-crew suborbital test flight aboard the Virgin Galactic vehicle Unity. Branson became the world's first billionaire to ride his own aircraft to the "edge of space".
The highest point of the Tuyza flight is 86 kilometers, which is "space flight" according to the definition of "outer space as space above 80 kilometers above sea level" by the US Air Force and NASA.
According to the "Russian newspaper" on the 11th, the "Spaceship-2" spacecraft that carried out this mission is called "Unity", which is first mounted by the "White Knight II" aircraft, rises to an altitude of about 15 kilometers and then separates, and then enters suborbit with its own rocket engine. Once the rocket engine stops working, passengers can unfasten their seat belts, experience weightlessness for about 4 minutes and admire the earth through more than a dozen windows in the cabin, AFP said. Unity reached a maximum altitude of about 85 kilometers, then reversed its tail and returned to Earth.
Soaring into the air on a rocket to experience the feeling of weightlessness was Bezos, the richest man in the world at the time. On July 20, 2021, the 57-year-old world's richest man flew into space aboard his company's Blue Origin's New Shepherd suborbital rocket system, also returning to Earth after a few minutes of weightlessness.
According to the Associated Press, the entire flight of the New Shephard spacecraft lasted about 10 minutes. Bezos' other three passengers on the space trip include his brother Mark, 82-year-old former American pilot Wally Fink and 18-year-old Dutch man Oliver Demen.
Google executive Eustace
Skydive in a hot air balloon of more than 40,000 meters
On October 24, 2014, Alan Eustace, then executive of Google Inc., parachuted from an altitude of more than 40,000 meters and landed safely, setting a new record for skydiving height.
Eustace prepared to jump. Image source/network
Eustace, then 57, was Google's senior vice president. He took off in a high-altitude hot air balloon in New Mexico on the same day, and spent more than two hours reaching an altitude of 135,890 feet (about 41,400 meters).
Eustace traveled to the edge of the atmosphere in a high-altitude hot air balloon at an altitude of 135,890 feet (about 41,419 meters). At an altitude of more than 40,000 meters, after staying for about half an hour to enjoy the magnificent scenery, he cut his rope and jumped to the ground. He descended at a top speed of 800 miles per hour (about 1287.5 kilometers). Observers on the ground even monitored small sonic booms. He opened his parachute landing while approaching the ground, breaking three world records held by Austrian Felix Baumgartner for highest freefall, vertical speed and world skydiving height.
Billionaire Fawcett
A record 15-day flight in a hot air balloon
Nearly 60-year-old American adventurer Steve Fawcett set another record in his "Spirit of Independence" hot air balloon.
In July 2002, he flew through Australia, South America, the Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean in 15 days, covering more than 20,000 kilometers, setting the world's record for the longest hot air balloon flight, and thus becoming the first person in the world to complete a non-stop hot air balloon flight around the world alone. In addition, the billionaire president holds 13 world records.
Fawcett was then hooked on paragliding. He intends to set a new record again: fly a glider to the stratosphere. Fawcett's goal is to fly his modified glider to an altitude of 19,000 meters, which is almost twice the altitude flown by a typical jetliner. He was joined on this adventure by NASA test pilot Aina Andernerson. They will wear spacesuits and fly gliders.
In the spring of 2005, Fawcett flew the new Globetrotter aircraft for 67 hours to circumnavigate the Earth, setting a record for the longest sustained flight of a jet of 37,000 kilometers without fuel.
Oracle CEO Ellison
Fly military aircraft and people to simulate air combat
Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, the world's second-largest software company, has many hobbies, and he often spends a lot of his time and money on thrill-seeking and adventure.
Larry Ellison has many hobbies. Image source/network
Ellison regularly competed in boat races, drag racing, and spent money on a dismantled Italian-made Marcetti S.211 jet fighter jet and piloted it over the Pacific Ocean in simulated aerial battles. He has also been trying to buy a $20 million Russian-made MiG, but the U.S. government has sternly refused.
He won the 1998 America's Cup regatta, which excited him more than he was the world's second richest man: "We are all curious about our limits. One of the things sport does is that it tells us what our limits are. It's very important and that's why I want to win the America's Cup. ”
Two rich people
Spend a lot of money to become a self-paid traveler in space
Dennis Tito, founder of Wilshire Group, the nation's third-largest investment management consulting firm, became the first self-funded space tourist in human history in 2001. For the trip, Tito paid $20 million to spend 8 days in space, which, according to experts, few people can see "sights", but Tito believes that every penny he spends is worth the money.
He described going into space as a dream he had struggled for 40 years and "the best experience of his entire life." Tito had flown at 27,200 kilometers per hour and saw the earth right under his feet with an endless black sky above him. As he said, "This is a sight that humans can't see every day!" ”
Shuttleworth, the second space tourist after Tito, was also a dreamer. At only 29 years old, he founded South Africa's largest network technology consulting company, worth more than 100 million, and his wealth is still accumulating, but he unexpectedly sold the company he founded for a sky-high price of $575 million in order to fulfill a childhood dream ——— soar into space. Speaking about the world's most expensive trip, costing $2.5 million a day, Shuttleworth kept his usual low profile, saying only that "my mom will be happy when this is all over." ”
When Shuttleworth landed on the International Space Station, the billionaires who wanted to be the next space tourists were already lining up, Lance Bass of the pop group N'Sync had completed their first round of training, Steven Tyler of the veteran rock band Aerosmith was also rubbing his hands, and 39-year-old wealthy Polish businessman Lešek Charnettsky was chasing them.
After freeing themselves from the financial constraints of ordinary people to survive, the rich feel bored with their ordinary lives, so they will increase their pursuit of adventure and excitement. Of course, behind these exciting extreme sports, the most important thing is strong financial support. Fawcett's round-the-world plane, the Globetrotter, was worth $5 million, and the entire round-the-world trip cost about $8 million. Dennis Tito became the first self-funded space tourist in human history, paying $20 million to spend 8 days in space.
Now, the most fashionable sport for the rich has long been not climbing mountains and going to the sky, but traveling in the deep sea on the latest submarines. The Titan submersible has transported about 60 paying passengers into the deep sea in the past two years. The accident may remind these explorers to emphasize safety while satisfying their hobbies.
Upstream news is synthesized according to Shenzhen Business Daily, Observer Network, China News Network, Xinhua Net, Qilu Evening News, Economic Information Daily and so on
Editor: Yang Bo
Responsible editor: Li Yang
Reviewed: Feng Fei