For space historians, three years stand out as landmarks of human exploration: 1957, 1961, and 1969. It was in 1957 that the former Soviet Union launched the beeping, beachball-sized Sputnik, becoming the first country to place a satellite in orbit. In 1961, the Soviets went further, when Yuri Gagarin made a one-orbit journey around the Earth, achieving the feat of being the first person in space. In 1969, the U.S. crowned the decade-long space race when Apollo 11 stuck the first crewed lunar landing. It’s not likely that 2026 will join that celebrated trifecta, but the year fast approaching is going to be a busy and historic one. Want the moon? There will be plenty going on there. Want a new space station? That’s teed up. Want to see a rising space power take a big step toward launching humans into space? India’s got you covered. Here’s what to look for as the calendar rolls over and the new year arrives. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Pandora planet hunter, Jan. 5 Time was, we knew of only eight planets in all of the cosmos—the handful of local worlds that orbit our local sun. In 1992 that changed, when astronomers spotted two planets orbiting a pulsar 2,300 light years from Earth. Since then more than 6,000 other so-called exoplanets have been found, leading scientists to conclude that there is at least one planet orbiting all of the trillions upon trillions of stars in the universe. With so many planetary laboratories on which so much…
Want more insights? Join Grow With Caliber - our career elevating newsletter and get our take on the future of work delivered weekly.
