Yuri's Night

What is Yuri’s Night?

Yuri’s Night is a global celebration of humanity’s past, present, and future in space. Yuri’s Night parties and events are held around the world every April in commemoration of April 12, 1961, the day of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s first manned spaceflight, and April 12, 1981, the inaugural launch of NASA’s Space Shuttle.

Yuri’s Night events combine space-themed partying with education and outreach. These events can range from an all-night mix of techno and technology at a NASA Center, to a movie showing and stargazing at your local college, to a gathering of friends at a bar or barbecue.

In 2011, the 50th anniversary of human spaceflight, over 100,000 people attended 567 officially-recognized events in 75 countries on all 7 continents, while tens of thousands more watched the 12-hour live Yuri’s Night Global Webcast and participated online in the virtual world of Second Life.

(Photo Credit: Sam Coniglio)

Since 2001, Yuri’s Night has:

• Featured talks and presentations by Ray Bradbury, Will Wright, George Takei, Richard Garriott, Anousheh Ansari, and many others
• Been celebrated at the South Pole, Hayden Planetarium, and in orbit on the International Space Station
• Planted hundreds of “moon trees” around the world in collaboration with American Forests
• Received the “Best Presentation of Space” award from the Space Frontier Foundation
• Trained the next generation of space leaders for organizations such as the National Space Society, Virgin Galactic, and Space Florida

Anyone can start a Yuri’s Night event, and it’s completely free. Are you interested? Register your party today!

Learn about the Yuri’s Night Global Executive Team.

Human spaceflight became a reality 50 years ago with the launch of a bell-shaped capsule called “Vostok 1” on April 12th, 1961. The capsule was carrying Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who took his place in history as the first human to leave the bounds of Earth and enter outer space.

Exactly 20 years later (April 12th, 1981), the United States embarked on a new era in spaceflight with the inaugural launch of a new type of spaceship — the Space Shuttle. Designed to carry a larger crew and large volumes of cargo to orbit, the Space Shuttles became synonymous with human spaceflight for an entirely new generation of young people.

When the next 20-year point arrived, that generation laid a new space milestone by connecting thousands of people around the world to celebrate and honor the past, while building a stairway to the future. That event was Yuri’s Night, and it continues to bring the excitement, passion and promise of space travel closer to people of all ages, nationalities and backgrounds.

April 12, 1961: Vostok 1

On Wednesday, April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin blasted off the launch pad in Baikonur at 9:08 AM local time. His call-sign for the flight was “Cedar.” Sergei Korolev, the Program’s Chief Designer, would call from the ground, “‘Dawn’ calling ‘Cedar.’” Gagarin made his historic 108-minute flight (orbiting around the whole Earth once) and parachute landed near his Vostok 1 capsule in the plains of Russia. This flight made him the first human to orbit the Earth and an international hero. Yuri was only 27 years old.

Seven years after his flight, on March 27, 1968, Yuri was piloting a MiG-15 when he got into a tragic crash that ended his life. He was 34. It is said that that is why John Glenn was not allowed to fly again for so long – to protect him. Yuri is survived by his wife Valentina and his two daughters, Lenochka and Galochka.

The cosmonaut program is rich with traditions that honor Yuri’s first flight. It is customary to visit the Gagarin Memorial before your mission, to sign the log book in Yuri’s unchanged office, and to urinate on the tire of the bus that brings you to the launch pad (mostly because Yuri had to himself right before his flight). We hope the world will celebrate April 12 together and create new traditions of space and unity.

More about Yuri:

• Vostok 1 flight summary, from Encyclopedia Astronautica.
• Yuri Gagarin: His Life in Pictures, from Russian Archives Online.
• Yuri Gagarin on Wikipedia.

April 12, 1981: STS-1

As if by cosmic coincidence (the launch had to be slipped two days to fix a computer glitch), the US Space Shuttle’s maiden voyage fell on April 12th, 1981, exactly 20 years later. The ship was Columbia, and her crew for STS-1 (Space Transportation System, flight 1) was Commander John Young and Pilot Bob Crippen.

The flight lasted two days and then Columbia returned for a glorious landing at Southern California’s Edwards Air Force Base, giving the world its first reusable spacecraft, a ship that would later be used to take astronauts, cosmonauts, and equipment to the Russian space station Mir in an amazing demonstration of complementary space assets and international cooperation.

For over 30 years, the Shuttle program was a cornerstone of manned spaceflight. 5 orbiters, 3 of which (Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour) were still active at the program’s end in 2011, flew 135 missions to the Hubble Space Telescope, the International Space Station, and other Earth-orbit destinations. Although the Shuttles have been grounded to make way for the next generation of orbital vehicles, their impact on the future of humanity in space will not soon be forgotten.

More about the Space Shuttle:

• STS-1 flight summary, from Encyclopedia Astronautica.
• STS-1 mission summary, from the NASA/Kennedy Space Center site.

April 12, 2001: Launch of Yuri’s Night

After being just an idea for four years, Yuri’s Night, the World Space Party, sprang into existence at the United Nations’ Space Generation Advisory Council Conference in Graz, Austria, during September 2000. Trish Garner, George Whitesides, and Loretta Hidalgo announced the kickoff of the event and released the first version of our website.

Seven months later, they had a buzzing team of space activists and party planners in Los Angeles and 64 events around the world. Our global space community was ready to spring into action to make a difference.

Felipe Hernandez (or Astrolipe), a DJ/space architect from Chile, was interviewed by CNN en Español, Loretta was on the KNBC local news live in the studio, Chris Welch was on BBC Radio, and George was on both NPR’s Morning Edition and MTV’s Mandy Moore Summer Special – where he was highlighted as a good guy for his efforts to bring the planet together to dance for space.

The parties were all extraordinary. In Yuri’s Night Mission Control, we had a countdown to the first party in Sydney, and then they just continued to roll around the planet. Melbourne had a posh affair with space cocktails; the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station did a toast; Cape Town celebrated with a space wedding complete with a Shuttle cake; Vancouver, London, Leiden, Istanbul, Bröllin, and Dublin all had large dance parties; Boston put on a full day of events; and in Houston even the NASA brass showed up to get down.

Here in LA, things went beautifully. We had the Lunar Rover parked out front, the live webcast of our event and our interviews with VIPs being broadcast around the world, the most kicking DJs who rocked the house, an awesome crowd that just loved the music and the vibe, amazing video work of our historical, current and fictional space footage projected on the main screen, an excellent laser system, and the best silver bikini clad go-go dancers in the Milky Way.

After the party, young people from the LA club scene told us it was the best party they had been to and thanked us for creating such an awesome space. Young engineers from JPL stopped and told us it was the most fun they had had out in a long time. We succeeded in doing what we had set out to do – bring together the people who really work for space with the people who think space is cool and want to be a part of it.

Want to get involved in Yuri’s Night? Become a partner! Aside from hosting an event, there are several ways to express your support for and investment in the Yuri’s Night idea.

Sponsor – Yuri’s Night sponsors offer financial support to the many tasks undertaken by the Global Executive Team each year to organize Yuri’s Night events worldwide. Sponsors can also choose to provide financial assistance to select parties within their geographical area or sphere of influence.

Supporter – Yuri’s Night supporters aid in the achievement of our goals and objectives with in-kind donations that allow us, as a low-budget not-for-profit organization, to operate and offer our participants and followers with products, services, and materials relevant to human spaceflight and advocacy.

Affiliate – Yuri’s Night affiliates share a common vision to promote an expanded interest in and utilization of human spaceflight. Yuri’s Night often engages with affiliates in cross-promotion of events and initiatives, and organizes and participates with affiliates in joint programs when.

For information on becoming a sponsor, supporter, or affiliate, contact us. Interested in sponsoring? Download our Sponsor Pack.

The Yuri’s Night Experience is made manifest with contributions and support from the following:

Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides, George Whitesides, and Trish Garner

Website Designed and developed by Jason CranfordTeague with assistance from Corey Lafferty using the impress.js framework.

Fonts provided by WebInk. Website powered by WordPress.

Each year, Yuri’s Night fans from around the world come together to help promote space in our projects and contests. Check out some of the results below!

“A Call To Humanity” Space Ad Contest
We were looking for a powerful and inspiring print ad that would move people to think about space and support humanity’s future among the stars. Amsterdam’s Alex Herwig, our Grand Prize winner, received a “zero-G” flight in Russia and $1,000 travel voucher! Download Alex’s poster on our Resources page.

OpenLuna Video Contest
OpenLuna donated $500 to the best tribute video celebrating the 50th anniversary of human spaceflight in 2011. Congrats to Paul Jones of New Zealand and his “50 years of spaceflight in 50 seconds”!

I Celebrate Yuri’s Night Because…
Why do you celebrate Yuri’s Night? Take a look at some of our video responses from author Homer Hickam, NASA Ames Director Pete Worden, and other space leaders and pioneers!

Yuri’s Night Flashback
In 2012, we asked people to post their favorite pictures and videos from the last 12 years of Yuri’s Night. Take a look at the 5 winners here, and check out the other awesome entries at Yuri’s Night Live!

Russian Space Tour Sweepstakes
The Ru