The Nobel Peace Prize could leave the planet this year, with the International Space Station among contenders

Not-so-outlandish, prognosticators say: The Nobel Peace Prize this year could go galactic, with an award to the International Space Station. But terrestrial contenders loom too, including U.S. President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada, emergency teams in Sudan, children’s advocates in Ukraine and two top international courts, experts say.

The annual guessing game about who will win the prize, often called the most prestigious award on the planet, is revving up ahead of the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s Oct. 9 announcement of the winner in Oslo.

Predicting the outcome is inherently speculative. Some surprising and controversial choices have appeared over the years. The committee received 287 candidates for this year’s prize, and just over a quarter of them are organizations.

Experts say the committee, in its process of awarding the prize, typically focuses on the durability of peace, the promotion of international fraternity and the quiet work of institutions that strengthen those goals.

International Space Station a symbol of global cooperation

Haakon Gjerløw, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, is considered a top forecaster. He says the ISS — well, the organization behind it — is a rare symbol of global cooperation in a quest toward the heavens at a time when multilateralism is crumbling........

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