2040

2040 (MMXL) will be a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

Predicted and scheduled events

• May 11 – Partial solar eclipse
• September 8 – Major planetary alignment
• November 4 – Partial solar eclipse

Date unknown

• The United States Air Force will start an at least partial phase-out of their B-52 Bombers, which by 2040 will have served 85 years of combat.^{[citation needed]}
• Climatologists predict that sometime in 2040 the Arctic Ocean will be free of ice, at least during the autumn (news reports, December 2006).^{[citation needed]}
• NASA predicts that by this year it will cost only tens of dollars per pound to launch humans or cargo into space.^[1]
• Projected completion date for the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) rail corridor running from Germany to southern Italy.^[2]
• Space-based solar power will be commercially viable.^[3]
• The Great Red Spot on Jupiter's atmosphere will become circular according to calculations based on its reduction rate at present.^{[citation needed]}

In fiction

• The anime series Macross Plus, Masoukishin Cybuster, and Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 are all set in this year.
• In the universe of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the television becomes obsolete.^[4]
• The Doctor Who short story collection Short Trips: 2040 is set in the year 2040.
• The events of BBC science-fiction drama Outcasts take place primarily in this year.
• Phantom 2040 television series and comic strips take place during this year.
• Edward de Bono's film 2040: Possibilities by Edward de Bono presents an idea, in the form of a lecture, what 2040 might be like.
• In JLU, the episode The Once and Future Thing Pt. 2 Time Warped takes place in an alternate 2040 where Batman Beyond, Warhawk, Static, and Bruce Wayne are the only remaining members of the JLU. (2005)
• In Static Shock, the episode Future Shock takes place primarily in this year with young Static being transported to the future where he teams up with Terry/Batman to help save old Static from the Kobras. (2004)

References