Dec 2010 Update: I was Ames again for Yuri's Night on April 10, helped at one of the NASA exhibits and also took lotsa video. I wore my green flight suit with Soviet space patches (CCCP and joint missions of Apollo/Soyuz, STS-71/Mir, and Leonov from movie, "2010"). I gotta edit some video from the total 2.5 hours taken that night (this event has many people you typically do not see at a NASA or any other govt facility).
Some clips of 2008 Yuri's Night Bay Area held at NASA Ames Research Center (hey Rich, at least I uploaded this before end of the decade). I worked with the Ames Amateur Radio Club doing amateur television and did some runnning around with a camera. Warning: Excessive pan and tilt may cause space sickness. I also had a heck of time getting the white balance to work (I no longer use this camera). Thanks to Byron KG6UOB and Nader KI6DBU which both stayed late that night helping the AARC booth.
Ames did not have a Yuri's Night this year 2009, maybe next year (hopefully). 2008 Yuri's Night was a publicity bonanza for NASA and they should take advantage of such opportunities. Ames had a Yuri's Night in 2007 and Center Director Pete Worden appeared as a wizard. For 2008, he was a Soviet 2-star general (a promotion as he retired from USAF as a one-star general). If next year Ames has Yuri's Night, maybe Worden will appear as a Starfleet Vice Admiral (3-star officer, a promotion again).
Yes, this celebration of a Russian space achievement was done at a American space agency facility. Most remarkable was the large amount of 20-somethings here at NASA (average age at NASA is about 50). And most of attendees are the kinds of people you normally do not see at a NASA facility, which made the event really "interesting." You can see a lot of stage smoke coming from hanger building N211. There were other clouds of smoke of smells not found on federal facilities (but in college dorms).
If there will be another Yuri's Night at Ames, us ham radio people will be back in force with lotsa radio, TV, wireless techie stuff to show off.
Other Yuri's Night websites:
http://www.nasa.gov/YNBA/
http://www.ynba.org/2008/
http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/Shana's-Blog/posts/post_1208542102595.html
NA6MF - EME Operation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30J1uY39ttA
Pete Worden welcoming speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4suU0bQYZI
Also seen is astronaut Col. Yvonne Cagle MD signing autographs and talking with people (how they or anyone else carry a conversation in such noise is unreal).
Video finishes with portrait of Gagarin. Next to the portrait is a posterboard I made of several photos of Yuri Gagarin from a Soviet publication from 1961. Book is about 500 pages, all in Cyrillic, with lots of photos and some cartoons. I scanned a number of pictures from this book, printed them along with other pictures from here and there including some from http://www.energia.ru/english/energia/history/gagarin/gagarin-03.shtml
Why Yuri's Night? April 12, 1961 USSR launches Yuri Gagarin making the first human orbital spaceflight. This is when both countries USA and USSR got real serious on developing human spaceflight capabilities. April 12, 1981 USA launches Space Shuttle making the first reusable spacecraft flight but for nearly 20 years it had no place to go. But the Russians have a space station so both countries teamed up on International Space Station. April 12 becomes the perfect date to celebrate space, technology, art, sciences, and engineering.
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3:35Yuri's Night Bay Area 2008 - I See The Earth PA...by spaceartist1,100 views
Was it free? if not how much did it cost?
digitalimpulse 2 years ago
It was about $20 for basic, about $40 for "vip" (additional seminars). I heard there will be Yuri's Night at Ames in 2010.
k6mfw 2 years ago