10 April 2008
Announcements - Other (Good)
Space Future Helps Sponsor NYC Yuri's Night
Join us April 12
by Carol Pinchefsky
By Carol Pinchefsky


When Yuri Gagarin orbited the earth in his Vostok capsule on April 12, 1961, he was making history...and giving the world an excuse to celebrate with vodka-fueled parties in his honor. Yuri’s Night, held every April 12 since 2001, commemorates the cosmonaut’s triumph with 173 parties on all seven continents (and occasionally the International Space Station).

Yuri's ready to party - are you?

But only in New York will the president of the New York Space Tourism Society Liz Kennick (with the help of Space Future and others) be adding sex to the mix, with a Barbarella theme; male and female bartenders will be festooned in naughty Barbarella-wear.

According to Yuri’s Night spokesperson Brice Russ, the tone of each party depends on entirely on the organizers. While some Yuri’s Night parties “involve dance nights, costume contests, space-themed bar drinks and the like” others will take on a more cerebral tone, with “an afternoon or evening of poster presentations, stargazing and speeches from astronauts or professors.”

“We’re getting a new generation excited about space,” says Sam Coniglio,
vice president of the Space Tourism Society (and occasional writer for Space Future). Coniglio hosted the San Francisco Yuri’s Night parties in 2002 and 2003. Revelers mingled over exhibits displayed by local space companies while grooving to the beat of his hired DJ. It was as if the Right Stuff had good vibrations.

NASA is also jumping on the fun wagon, sponsoring its own Yuri’s Night. NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field (Silicon Valley), California, plans to host 4,000 party-hopping space enthusiasts.

Back in New York, party people have until April 10th to join the $5 raffle: one lucky winner gets a 0-g parabolic flight in the aptly named Vomit Comet. But it’s the only opportunity we earth-folk have to experience weightlessness without a bazillion-dollar budget.

Yuri’s Night parties are a great way to inspire people to think about space with same enthusiasm they had when Yuri was in orbit.

For more information, see www.eventbye.com/yurisnight. To find a party near you, see www.yurisnight.net.

You can find Yuri’s Night New York at

Rebel Lounge
251 West 30th Street
(btw. 7th& 8th Ave.)
April 12, 2008 7pm-11pm

Photo by Ken Gosier

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Carol Pinchefsky 10 April 2008
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