Yuri's Night - Celebrating 50 Years Of Human Spaceflight

Brice Russ, Tim Bailey, Loretta Hidalgo-Whitesides, Ryan Kobrick, Chrls Lewicki

Abstract

Yuri's Night, the World Space Party, is a global event held each April 12 to celebrate the first human spaceflight of Yuri Gagarin (on April 12, 1961) and the first launch of the Space Shuttle (on April 12, 1981). Although Yuri's Night events share a common goal of celebrating humanity's history and future in space, they can vary from backyard barbecues to educational events hosted by schools and libraries to day-long scientific colloquia to late-night dances--or all of the above. Yuri's Night parties have been held in locations as diverse as the South Pole, downtown Manhattan, the Mars Desert Research Station, and Moscow, Russia, and the flagship event at the NASA Ames Research Center in 2010 drew over 12,000 attendees. In this presentation, members of the Yuri's Night Global Team will provide an introduction to Yuri's Night, report on the festivities of Yuri's Night 2011 (celebrating the 50th anniversary of Gagarin's flight), and give event organizers, participants and others a chance to ask questions, provide feedback and share their Yuri's Night experiences.

Presented at ISDC 2011 - Huntsville. Paper and presentation charts are not available.