Yuri's Night Celebrates More than a Half Century of Human Exploration of Space

SpaceRef ^ | April 14, 2013

[cunning_fish]

Tomorrow the world marks 52 years since Yuri Gagarin's historic flight into space and 32 years since the first launch of the Space Shuttle. Scientists, artists, educators, and fans of space will be celebrating these milestones at over 320 parties and events in 50 countries on all 7 continents. Dubbed 'the World Space Party,' Yuri's Night is in its 13th year.

"The level of interest and enthusiasm this year has been just amazing," said Dr. Ryan Kobrick, Executive Director of Yuri's Night. "We've already hit 300 events, and we expect to register many more by Friday. This is officially our second-largest Yuri's Night since we began in 2001." According to Kobrick, the only year with more registered events was 2011 - the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight.

[Rodamala]

how odd... 2 threads one posted right after the other... referencing 2 different Yuris.

[dr_lew]

When all this happened, we acknowledged it, but we didn’t celebrate it. We celebrated Alan Shepard and John Glenn. I recall that I was in music class with Mr. Kramer in junior high when Shepard made his flight as the “first American in space.” The school put it over the intercom, live, as it took barely twenty minutes or so. Of course, this was just three weeks after Gagarin’s flight. Things were moving fast in those days.

[PastorBooks]

I wonder if the North Koreans might be planning a celebration of their own?

Something to do with rockets?

[Jack Hydrazine]

Yuri Gagarin song written for the world space party.
http://www.ziaspace.com/ZIA/mp3s/YuriGagarin.html

Yuri Gagarin

The chimes rang out from Kremlin’s Tower, ushering a new day
The 12th of April ‘61, man ventured into space

Yuri Gagarin, you’ll be our man tonight, at the World Space Party

From a schoolboy out in the pasture, to a pilot protecting the borders
Days of war and misery, had liberated Yuri
The closeness of the continents, essential unity of all humans
What wonderful soil this would be, in which peace and friendship could seed

Yuri Gagarin, you’ll be our man tonight, at the World Space Party
Yuri Gagarin, you’ll be our man tonight, at the World Space Party

Dear friends, compatriots, and people of all continents
In a few minutes a mighty ship will carry me into the distance
What can I say to you in these last moments?
[At this moment] my life seems so condensed into one wonderful moment
To be the first to enter the cosmos, [to] engage, single handed
[In] an unprecedented duel with nature. Could one ask for anything more?

Yuri Gagarin, you’ll be our man tonight, at the World Space Party
Yuri Gagarin, you’ll be our man tonight, at the World Space Party

MP3 here.
http://ziaspace.com/ZIA/mp3s/YuriGagarin.mp3

I bet Li’l Fatboy Kim will launch tomorrow on the 12th! Maybe he’ll launch himself into space!

[Jack Hydrazine]

Yuri’s Night website.
http://yurisnight.net/#/home

[Regulator]

But...NASA doesn't celebrate Al Shepard day.

Guess they're embarrassed by an American military guy being - aw shucks - the second man in space.

But never mind. Gagarin is the man, and Soyuz is the vehicle.

And Americans are stranded on Earth, and gotta pay Putin to get to space.

Poor dears.

[jmcenanly]

Alan Shepard day would be May 5. That would conflict with the celebration of Cinco de Mayo. This was a battle that the Mexicans won in a war that they lost. We might have intervened, but in 1862, we had our own problems.
We should be launching crews to the ISS by 2017, only 4 years from now.

[Nepeta]

If memory serves me correctly, the Russians have left Gagarin's office exactly as it was the last time he walked out of it, later crashing and dying.

In the long scheme of things, Gagarin's a worthy hero. He was the first member of a most elite brotherhood.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks cunning_fish.

Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Yuri's Planet

[SunkenCiv]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Cosmonauts#Vladimir_Ilyushin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Ilyushin

[Squawk 8888]

Hey Gagarin

[Moonman62]

But...NASA doesn't celebrate Al Shepard day. Guess they're embarrassed by an American military guy being - aw shucks - the second man in space.

If it weren't for Yuri, NASA wouldn't have received a blank check to go to the Moon, and later develop the Shuttle and the ISS. Yuri was very photogenic and the Soviets sent him on a successful PR tour of the world, which convinced our politicians that they had to do something to top the Soviets.

[Regulator]

You can say the same thing about Hitler. Without him, we would have had no enemy to spur the production of all sorts of military developments.

And Gagarin was the face of Communist "achievement" and superiority over bourgeois Western democracy and capitalism. That was the message they sent.

I see no reason to celebrate his "achievement" in preference to American space efforts. It's part of an ongoing effort by cultural Marxists to belittle and minimize American accomplishments. What's surprising is that there is a distinct tendency within NASA to do this.

Al Shepherd would have launched eventually. The fact that the Soviet government took a high risk and launched Gagarin just a bit earlier was part of the game. They could have killed him like they had earlier Cosmonauts in their first attempts. But they did it anyway to try to fool the world into thinking that Communism was a better system.

If NASA wants to recognize and honor Gagarin for taking that risk, that's OK. But not in preference to the very real risk and achievements of the United States.

[Moonman62]

You can say the same thing about Hitler. Without him, we would have had no enemy to spur the production of all sorts of military developments.

Speaking of NASA, his rocket scientists were a big help (And also for the Soviets.).

As evil as he was, Hitler had a fascinating life involving all sorts of improbable luck. It makes a person wonder.

However, we don't celebrate him like we would Gagarin for what should be obvious reasons.