Yuri’s Night Houston

Hello Houston & Earth!!

It’s true we’ve been silent for a while but that does not mean we’ve disappeared! Quite the opposite in fact as we are committed more than ever to giving you a full day of great activities to help celebrate two great achievements of Humanity. What achievements are these you ask? Why none other that putting the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin, and the first launch of the first reusable space craft, the Space Shuttle! Both of these feats are examples of what Humanity is capable of when we push ourselves to challenge the limits of what is known. (Trivia fact: They also happened to occur on the same day, April 12th 1961 and 1981 respectively.)

As we look to an exciting and strong future of Human spaceflight, developing in more and more nations, we can all celebrate our achievements and ponder how we will do our part to insure that it is a bright future indeed.

This year we’ll be celebrating Yuri’s Night Houston on April 10th. Look for more posts in the future as we come closer to our event this year.

Are you prepared for the Universe? (Ok…that may be over the top….oh well…  )

So for the third year in a row Jacobs Technology has stepped up to sponsor a Raffle for a Zero-G flight hosted by AIAA Houston Section! And this year you get a raffle ticket just for showing up to the celebration! So go ahead and get that ticket for the celebration now and save yourself some cash at the door.

(Ok, I’ll get it now)

If you haven’t had the chance to experience weightlessness  I definately suggest you try it. I had the opportunity to go back in the Summer of 2006 and that was an AMAZING trip! I was lucky enough to be on a Science Flight out of Cape Canaveral! Talk about a Rocket Scientists Heaven, Kennedy Space Center and I get to experience Zero-G?!?!?! Awesome!

Now, I don’t want to spoil the surprise of what the experience of Zero-G is like, but I will say that, at least for me, it felt as if a weight had been lifted!

See you soon!

-Mike

(Just FYI, You must be present at the Celebration to Win the Raffle! Raffle tickets will be handed out at the event.)

With only 10 Days left the Yuri’s Night Crew is working hard to put the final touches on the days events!

The day will start with a Charity Fun Run in the morning out at Challenger Park benefiting the Challenger Center for Space Science Education. At 7:45am there will be a kids race and then at 8:00am there will be a 5k fun run around the park. Come on out for some spring air! (Sign Up Here! Scroll to the bottom of the page)

After the run, take it easy and recoup throughout the day in order to attend the Celebration at the Meridian in the evening! Doors open a 8pm, but with no time to waste the evenings activities will be starting at 8:30!  With the Rockit Scientists, a DJ, 2 kinds of Special performers, door prizes, space exhibits, and a chance to experience weightlessness! it is going to be one heck of a Celebration!

We invite you to come celebrate 48 years of Human Spaceflight with us!

-The Yuri’s Night Houston Team

P.S. We would like to Thank our Sponsors and Host for this years Events!

Sponsored by:

Hosted by:

So lets take a step back to 1957, 52 years ago, half a century…

Wow, can you believe that Humanity has been putting objects in space for that long? Now take a minute and think about all the knowledge that has been gained in that time through the Space Programs around the world…

Now think about how those programs developed, how people had the Audacity to say ‘Yeah, we can do that.’ and ‘Yeah, I’ll go for a ride around the Earth on a barely controlled explosion.’ It was people like Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard; Dr. Robert Goddard , Konstantin Tsiolkovskii, Hermann Oberth, and of course Werner Von Braun and all the others who had that audacity to say ‘Yeah, we can do that.’ that have allowed and shaped humanity’s presence in space.

Today there are robust space programs around the world, there are 3 countries that have the ability to launch Human’s into space (USA, Russia, China) with more on the way,  private enterprises are targeting Humans in space, and there is a renewed and long term push for the moon.

Human Audacity is alive and well.

Come on out and celebrate this Audacity with Yuri’s Night Houston as we salute those who push the boundaries of ‘possible’.

See you in two weeks!

-Mike

Yuri’s Night Houston 2009
Co-Chair

Yuri’s Night is a world event (Currently 107 events in 33 countries this year), one that strives to inspire and educate the public about one of Humanity’s greatest achievements: The sending of Human’s into Space!

On April 12, 1961 Yuri Gagarin set off on that first voyage and since then there have been many more flights and firsts in the area of Human Space Flight, we even landed on the Moon!

Tonight, in the 28th year of flying the space shuttle, Discovery blasted off  on a construction mission to the International Space Station. This mission will complete the power systems and repair a piece of recycling technology which will allow the station to have a full crew of 6 instead of the caretaker crew of 3, thus allowing much more research to be completed.

The ISS is a feat that has been compared to building a great pyramid in orbit. Imagine the effort that it took to build the great pyramids thousands of years ago? Now imagine doing that in orbit about the earth? That definately makes you stop and think…

Human Space Flight is truly an amazing industry, one that is vital to Humanity’s long term survival, Economy, as well as the expansion of Human experience and technological development. And that  is why we are coming out to celebrate. To give thanks to those who have pulled off the great achievements that have continued to redefine what is possible and to inspire those that will be taking the next steps into the future, for we all have a vested interest in the future.

Come join us April 4th!

-Mikey

We’ve been busy cooking up some great plans for this year, and have moved the party to The Meridian — a centrally located venue in Houston that will give us plenty of room for exhibits, performers, and celebrating!

For those that are new to Yuri’s Night: it is an annual worldwide celebration of space exploration that commemorates the first manned spaceflight of Yuri Gagarin on April 12th, 1961, and the first launch of the Space Shuttle on April 12th, 1981. There are well over 100 parties that take place around the world every year on or around April 12th to celebrate Yuri’s Night, and Houston (aka Space City) always has one of the premier events. So mark your calendars! This year we are celebrating in a major way on Saturday, April 4th, 2009.

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Starting at 7:45 am:

Annual Charity 5k Fun Run @ Challenger Park — Kids Fun Run 7:45am, Main Fun Run 8:00am (Registration is open now!)

11:00 am - 6pm:

SpaceFest Education Event at Rice Stadium

8:00 pm - 12:00 am

The big celebrati

on at the Meridian!