A Peculiar Expedition from Mountain to Space 2026
If you have ever been on a hike, your legs are tired, your energy is running low, and you are not even sure that you are going the right way. But you keep going because you need to know what’s past the next step. That feeling, that urge, that curiosity to know — that’s ancient. It’s the same thing that pushed people to sail into open oceans with nothing but stars to guide them. The same thing that got us to Everest. The same thing that strapped us into metal cans and shot us into space.
And honestly, hiking and space travel aren’t that different. On a trail, you gotta figure stuff out when it breaks. You have got to keep your head straight when you are cold, hungry, and alone. In space, it’s just more extreme. No air, no easy rescue, no room for mistakes. Your crew is everything. That’s why astronauts literally go hiking for training.
The Atacama Desert is so empty and strange that NASA uses it to test Mars rovers. Iceland looks enough like the Moon that the Apollo astronauts practised there. Antarctica teaches you what happens to the brain when you are stuck with the same five people for months. It’s all the same muscle — dealing with big, empty places.
Trails don’t actually stop. They just turn into launch pads if you follow them for long enough. Every blister, every wrong turn, every view from a summit is training you for something bigger. We have been heading for space since the first human walked up the first hill. Turns out, we are still walking.
Team Members: Aarna Tripathi, Aashirya Rout, Dhriti Malik, Dilmeen, Drishti, Ishanavi, Maiza Khan, Naysa Singh, Tahura (Mater Dei School, New Delhi).
EdTerra Edventures conducts various other programs for the youth. If you go to school and are under 17 years of age, ask your school to contact us to arrange a visit to your school for an introduction to “Kanatal” and other journeys under EdTerra’s India Discovery Program.
For queries call +91-11-48885800 or visit EdTerra Browse Journeys page to know more about the programs we offer to school students. Visit our FB page by clicking HERE
