Wide Angle: Yuri's Night

Yuri Gagarin was the first person to reach outer space - find out how people celebreate with Yuri's Night parties today
 

The Face of Yuri's Night

astronomy galileo universe telescope sky space
Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's first spaceflight lasted just under two hours, yet forever changed history. And -- to this day -- Gagarin's milestone still makes a great excuse to throw a party. Credit: Yuri's Night
 

Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin changed just about everything when he became the first human to blast into space on April 12, 1961. Twenty years later to the day, NASA's first reusable space shuttle rocketed skyward.

And 20 years after that, a group of space entrepreneurs and enthusiasts -- Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides, George Whitesides and Trish Garner -- thought these milestones were something to party down to. So they created an annual, worldwide, space-out celebration called Yuri's Night.

In this Discovery Space Wide Angle, we'll challenge your knowledge of human spaceflight, take a close look at how the first person to reach orbit and show off the wackier side of space.

  • Video: World's Biggest Space Party
    What happens at a Yuri's Night party -- and what is the celebration all about, anyway? Discovery Space investigates.

  • Quiz: People in Space
    On human spaceflight's 48th anniversary, it's only fitting to test your knowledge of space pioneers. Take this quiz by HowStuffWorks.com.

  • Blog: Yuri's Night 2009
    Discovery Space producer and blogger Dave Mosher reports on Yuri's Night 2009 from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

  • HowStuffWorks: How Astronauts Work
    What makes up the men and women who launch into space? Find out at HowStuffWorks.com.

Got something to say? E-mail your questions, comments or concerns to discoveryspace@discovery.com.

MORE WIDE ANGLES
 
advertisement

Talk About It!

Got something to say? Speak up here:

 

Other Wide Angles This Week

Visit our other Wide Angles running on Discovery Earth and Discovery Tech this week:


Discovery Earth: Seismic Week
Dust pollution knows no boundaries, from the Sahara desert in Africa to the Great Plains in our own back yard.


Discovery Tech: Nanotechnology Vs. Cancer
Cancer diagnosis usually depend on changes in cells and tissues that are detected by a doctor's physical exam or imaging expertise. Nanotechnology offers powerful potential for finding and treating this disease without altering healthy cells. We'll take a look at some of these methods and explore the risks and promises of this new scientific field.

 

Need More Space? Get it Here!

 
newsletter
 
 

our sites

video

 

mobile

shop

stay connected

corporate

Image Credits NASA

Copyright © 2012 Discovery Communications, LLC. The number-one nonfiction media company.