Hetty Helsmoortel

In 2026, Hetty turned 40. According to average life expectancy, she is now statistically somewhere in the middle. Urgently time to take stock. Because ever since the day she could read, her existence has been filled with science and curiosity. Collecting stones, drawing robots, or trying to build the most stable sandcastles on the beach of Ostend. But does science remain that loyal ally in the second half of her life? What if she gets a diagnosis at 75 for which there is no treatment yet? Will she be angry then, because maybe there was too much dawdling somewhere in 2026? Or just grateful for the things that did move forward in that year? Will that newest laundry-building robot, for which the basis was perhaps laid in 2026, be a blessing by then… or just an extra device that we have to descale? Because have we actually really gained more time since the invention of the dishwasher and the dryer? And does her childlike enthusiasm about the new and ever-further exploration of space - with the moon at the forefront in 2026 - remain standing? Even if that moon might have become a place by then where we have gone to dream as much as to search for raw materials? In ‘Missie 2026’ (Mission 2026), Hetty’s hope, humor, and wonder come together again. She looks in her own way at the most striking scientific events of 2026. For the sixth time in a row, she wants to send everyone back into the world after the show with desire and a head full of new insights. “Hetty Helsmoortel proves that science can not only inform and wonder, but also entertain.” - De Standaard