Yuri’s Night Houston

Yuri’s Night is  a World Wide Celebration of the First Human in Space, Yuri Gagarin! He was launched into orbit on April 12, 1961 aboard Vostok-1 by the then Soviet Union (which is now once again known as Russia). Circling the Earth he is quoted as saying

“Circling the Earth in my orbital spaceship I marveled at the beauty of our planet. People of the world, let us safeguard and enhance this beauty — not destroy it!”

But wait, why are we celebrating here in Houston, Texas?  There are actually many reasons!  First off, with the launch of Vostok-1 it really amped up the pressures in the Space Race, which resulted in President John F. Kennedy declaring the United States’ intentions of putting a human on the moon. One of JFK’s most famous speeches about human space flight was right here in Houston at Rice University Stadium! One of the most famous quotes from that speech is:

We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…

Fast forward through all the science and engineering tribulations of about the next 7 years to July 16, 1969 when Apollo 11 launched for the moon. On July 20th, those now famous words were heard

Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.

Human’s had landed on their nearest celestial neighbor!  This year is the 41st Anniversary of that great achievement.

But wait! There are more reasons to celebrate! After the Apollo Program came the Shuttle Program and on April 12, 1981, Twenty Years to the Day after Yuri’s flight, STS-1 Columbia lifted off, headed for Space!  The Space Shuttle has remained the Human Space Flight work horse for NASA since that time with some of it’s most notable missions being the Hubble Space Telescope, trips to the Russian Station MIR, and now the construction of the International Space Station (ISS)!

Now,  the ISS is complete and  the Shuttle will be retired and Human’s will once again be targeting the Moon and other destinations.  And who has been  an integral part of all these amazing programs and will continue to be in the future? NASA’s Johnson Space Center, located right here in Houston.

So as you can see, we have a lot of things to Celebrate, Admire, and Learn from this year at Yuri’s Night Houston so come on out and join us!

-The Yuri’s Night Houston Team