As Rivers pointed out in his previous post, on April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin, became the first man to orbit the Earth. The United States launched the first space shuttle on April 12, 1981. This year actually marks the 50th anniversary of NASA! This Saturday marks the 47th anniversary of Gagarin’s 108-minute flight and his one orbit mission that ended as he parachuted from the Vostok 1 capsule onto the plains of Central Asia. I see this as a reason to celebrate and I’m not the only one! With the recent confirmation of a Yuri’s Night party planned for Antarctica’s South Pole Station there are now 176 celebrations in 49 countries in 7 continents on 2 worlds!

For the second straight year, the crew on the International Space Station has released a video greeting to all Yuri’s Night parties. Commander Peggy Whitson, Garrett Reisman and Yuri Malenchenko of Expedition 16 say hello “to everyone down on Planet Earth celebrating Yuri’s Night”, and talk about the beauty of Earth and the importance of April 12th in astronomical history. If you haven’t had a chance to see the greeting yet, check it out here.

Also for the second straight year, Jacobs Engineering is sponsoring an opportunity for one lucky winner to experience parabolic flight and and feel what it is like to fly in space just like astronauts! If you are interested in winning a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fly like astronauts on a the specially modified aircraft, G-FORCE ONE® and experience the exhilaration of weightlessness, which is how astronauts have been trained by NASA for 40 years and how Tom Hanks floated in Apollo 13, you can purchase a ticket for only $5.00 here. Tickets are on sale until 6:00 pm CST on Saturday April 12th.

Yuri’s Night is dedicated to celebrating the 47th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s first manned spaceflight and each celebration has a unique flavor. Yuri’s Night is a great opportunity to engage in the space industry. If you are interested, you can find an event near you here. Yuri’s Night is a program of the Space GenerationAdvisory Council, an organization dedicated to engaging and developing the next generation of space leaders.