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| Volume 29 Number 7 |
May / June 2004 |
Yuri's Night 2004
By Ronald Sostaric, GN&C Committee Member
April 12, 2004, marked the 43rd anniversary of the first human into space,
Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, and the 23rd anniversary of the flight of
the first American space shuttle, Columbia. It also marked the date of the
4th Annual Yuri's Night Celebration in Houston, TX!
Yuri's Night is a global celebration of human space achievement designed
to raise awareness and support for space exploration. This year's local
events included the 5k Fun Run/Walk, Educational Out-reach at the Houston
Museum of Natural Science, and the Celebration at Outrigger's in Seabrook.
YN 2004 kicked off early in the morning on April 3rd, at Challenger Park with
the Fun Run/Walk (of which AIAA was a sponsor-thanks AIAA!) This year was
the first year for the Yuri's Night Fun Run/Walk event. Though the weather
reports predicted rain, it turned out to be quite a nice morning for a walk
or jog. According to Fun Run organizer Sarah Graybeal, "The first Yuri's
Night 5k was a great success-we had almost 150 participants and made more
than $1,000 for the Yuri's Night Houston charities. We hope to do even
better next year!" The event also included a Kids 1k, which was a lot of
fun for the younger crowd.
Runners enjoyed the Yuri's Night 5k.
The very next day, on April 4th, the second portion of the Yuri's
Night activities took place at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
The Educational Events included such activities as a Space Art Contest and
Balloon Rockets, which allowed kids of all ages to launch a balloon rocket
made from straw, balloon, and string. Other activities included a Scavenger
Hunt, Russian Name Tags, Space Race Trivia Contest, and History Lectures.
This year's educational events were a big success and volunteers were
able to reach out to many kids to convey the interesting aspects of space.
Yuri's Night-Houston organizer Jen Mendeck stated, "the Yuri's Night 5k Fun
Run/Walk and the Yuri's Night Education Day at the Houston Museum of Natural
Science helped us to connect people from all over our city and even from other
cities and states to the people who work in the human space flight field."
The YN Celebration was held this year at Outriggers under the Kemah Bridge
in Seabrook. Over 200 people braved the wind and cold (the celebration was
in a pavilion-type area) and came to celebrate. The evening started off with
live music by Delusion and a vodka toast from the JSC Center Director, General
Howell. Following the music, the crowd was entertained by the excellent
performance of the Russian dancers. The classic and bluesy rock cover
tunes of Vintage kept the party going along with a couple more vodka toasts.
The evening was brought to a close by LTS, whose modern and hard rock cover
tunes helped the crowd keep warm in spite of the evening's frigid weather.
Mendeck said that this year's celebration was very successful. Though there
are parties all over the world each year, the Houston party is one-of-a-kind.
"Our party is unique because we draw people who have personal connections to
the US and Russian space programs. You can meet astronauts and cosmonauts
at our party or speak with the director of Johnson Space Center," said
Mendeck. "Yuri's Night in Houston is about tapping into this great resource
of space history and enthusiasm that we have at Johnson Space Center and
reaching out to the greater Houston community with our message."
Any proceeds from the Yuri's Night Events were donated to the Challenger
Center for Space Science Education and Permission to Dream.
Special thanks to all those who volunteered or participated in any of the
events-the Yuri's Night organizers hope to see you again next year!!!
More information about Yuri's Night can be found at:
Houston Yuri's Night:
http://www.sparx.net/yuri/
Yuri's Night Global:
http://www.yurisnight.net/
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