Yuri's Night World Party at NASA/Ames Research Center: April 13, 2007
http://www.ynba.org/
Written by Dennis Gonzales. Edited by Lanajean Vecchione.
Additional editing, Christine Dorr. Photography by Eric James & Paul Langston.
Original interview with Anousheh Anasari by Brandy Brittmer.



"A celebration of space exploration through artists, scientists, astronauts, performers and musicians." - Yuri's Night 2007 World Party


Every April 12th, Yuri's Night brings together people from around the world, creating a global community in support of mankind's shared destiny in space. Yuri's Night is a non-profit and non-governmental event sponsored by the Space Generation Foundation, or SGF.




On April 13, 2007 and extending into the wee hours, NASA Ames hosted Yuri's Night World Space Party. The event was held in Hangar 211 adjacent to the Moffett Federal Airfield - not too far from my work desk. Already excited that employer NASA was involved, I also felt Yuri's Night resonated with my personal goal to honor space exploration through science and art. It was a natural fit to report the event, much like I had with the 2001 projects.




How It Started

April 12, 2001 marked the first live event created by Loretta Hidalgo, George T. Whitesides and Trish Garner. During a live web cast interview with Hidalgo and Whitesides this past April, Hidalgo stated (See left image), "Back in 1999, we noticed that there was a space anniversary for April 12 that was both Russian and American (Vostok 1 and Space Shuttle). We thought what better way to bring the world together, to celebrate space on April 12. George had the idea making it a distribution event all around the world and calling it Yuri's Night. So Yuri's Night was born." Since then, the event has expanded internationally, with events celebrated all worldwide simultaneously each year. Says Hildago, "We did the first event and we had 69 parties around the world. And today we have 124 parties in 35 countries, six continents and two worlds."

Two worlds? You see, Yuri's Night isn't just in the real world. It's also celebrated in the virtual world of Second Life. "We thought we definitely want to include them in our account," Hildago said. "And in addition, we have Charles Simonyi on the International Space Station [the fifth space tourist and the second Hungarian in space.]. "Charles sent a video out to the events to celebrate a message, honoring all events around the world." Yes, two worlds, and outer space!

But why have a Yuri's Night in the first place I wondered. Hildago answered,"Our vision is really about human exploration and making it something that open to everybody . . . We want to give the public a way to get involved. And a way to express their passion for space and to say (that) you can be part of it. You can support space exploration too. You can write your congressman. . . ."

Whitesides said (see left image), "The coalition (The Coalition for Space Exploration) has a really strong agenda . . working hard to engage a broad range for the American public to come out. And (we) support the public through things like the spaceadvocate.com website. . . where you can learn more about the vision for space exploration, sign up for updates, and communicate with their legislatures, both on the State and National level."





Given the goals and mission of the event, it didn't take much to convince NASA Ames Research Center Director S. Pete Worden to host it. NASA CoLab's Jessy Cowan-Sharp is the mastermind behind bringing Yuri's Night to NASA Ames. The NASA CoLab develops and supports online and offline communities collaborating with NASA. CoLab also supports the Second Life series, a virtual frontier for collaboration and technology. A community hub where professional networking and knowledge is shared and the solar system explored in a virtual world based on data flowing from interplanetary probes.



Yuri's Night 2007

The sub-theme for Yuri's Night 2007 was "The Greenification of Space." To this end, the event was powered by biodiesel, a variety of organic food and drink was on hand, waste products were composted or recycled, and one tree planted for each ticket sold to offset the event's carbon emissions.








NASA Ames scientists were offering cutting-edge, interactive demonstrations including innovations from the world of robotics, engineering, chemistry and astronomy. Yuri's Night and NASA Ames Research Center is a unique partnership with a team of event planners including Nexus and Symbiosis Events. Everybody involved shares the same goal - educating the next generation about 21st Century space exploration, history and culture.

Yuri's Night organizers provided a dazzling array of interactive, multimedia art installations interwoven with music, dance and acrobatic performances. Musical entertainment included a world-class lineup of live music featuring Plaid, a British electronic music duo comprising Andy Turner and Ed Handley, Telefon Tel Aviv, a ambient techno duo comprising Charles Cooper and Joshua Eustis, Bluetech, Ooah + Boreta, Sutekh and other artists, all enhanced by a JK Sound system.


YouTube - Plaid.

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