2026 is such a cool year for rocket scientists.
This year we have:
Centenary of liquid propulsion
Coming up literally next week!
March 16, 1926: Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fuelled rocket, which reached a grand total altitude of 41 feet and set wheels in motion for all of liquid rocketry up to and including my current research, the Apollo program, and the stuff I sent to the moon and separately to the ISS few years ago.
We also have this year:
Thunderbirds Year
I am possibly more excited for this, being as how my first foray into fanfic was for Thunderbirds and I'm a second-generation Thunderbirds fan (my mother was really into them as well, particularly Virgil, and I have inherited her blorbo from her shows not once but, if you consider her opinion of Qui-Gon Jinn, arguably twice)
Uh if you missed that reference, Thunderbirds is a kids TV show from 1966, which is set in 2026. I have seen all of it multiple times and can still tell you off the top of my head what any given episode was from a couple of details. Also my brother and I conspired to keep the precious out-of-print History of Supermarionation book (dealing with the Making Of Thunderbirds and also the shows that happened either side of it) out of the library for nearly three years in several six-month stretches.
What does this have to do with rocket science well ALL THE FUCKING ROCKET SHIPS IN THUNDERBIRDS would be a bit of a clue.
Might do a post later breaking down how good Gerry Anderson's crystal ball was if anyone is interested.