Science of Reading Week is March 23-27 at SUNY New Paltz - SUNY New Paltz

Currently, about 16,000 satellites are orbiting Earth, providing everything from GPS service and weather reports to phone service in remote locations to people across the globe. In contrast, the highest-ever number of active satellites in orbit around Mars, one of the best-explored other planets in our solar system, is eight.

The only thing we can be sure of about the future is that it will be absolutely fantastic. If what I say seems reasonable to you, then I have failed completely, declared Arthur C. Clarke back in 1964 on the BBC. In the legendary BBC Horizon documentaries more than 60 years ago, Clarke made several predictions—including some about the Internet that proved uncannily accurate.