This party’s a real blast, and space is no problem

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/04/2010 (5666 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to have a blast at Yuri’s Night.

The global celebration of space exploration, held on or around April 12, is ever-expanding — just like the universe.

Last year, Yuri’s Night events took place in 47 countries.

On Monday night, the Manitoba Planetarium is entering the party orbit for the first time with a Winnipeg Yuri’s Night space soirée.

“It really celebrates the spirit of exploration and the curiosity that drives us into space,” says the planetarium’s Scott Young, an astronomer who has attended local Yuri’s Night house parties for the past few years.

“It’s manifested through parties, presentations, lectures, discussions and all sorts of things, all around the world.”

The first Yuri’s Night “space parties” were held on April 12, 2001, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first human spaceflight by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, as well as the 20th anniversary of the first Space Shuttle launch.

The movement to “bring the planet together to dance for space” originated in Los Angeles, although Russians have long marked Cosmonautics Day on April 12.

This year marks the 10th annual Yuri’s Night. Festivities in 54 countries are registered on the website www.yurisnight.net, which is maintained by the Space Generation Advisory Council. Even a research base in Antarctica gets spacey, meaning Yuri’s Night is toasted on all seven continents.

On Monday at the Manitoba Planetarium, revellers (ages 18 and up) can dance under the dome to music by five DJs, including DJ Beekeeni (a.k.a. Eve of Vav Jungle).

Local VJ mrghosty has assembled space-themed video — including retro astronaut and cosmonaut footage — that will be projected on the dome in a “live video performance.”

The event, which can accommodate 200 people, also includes speakers, interactive science exhibits, a video installation, excerpts from planetarium star shows and a contest for the best space-themed costume.

Scientists giving presentations in the science gallery include UFO researcher Chris Rutkowski and Robert Dyck from the Winnipeg chapter of the Mars Society.

Party-goers can play a demo version of a space video game being developed for NASA by a Winnipeg company, Project Whitecard.

If all goes according to plan, live satellite feeds from the International Space Station will be on view — even projected on the planetarium dome. NASA was planning to have a space walk during the event, but the space station’s schedule is currently up in the air, Young says.

There’s a cash bar, but no word yet on whether it will serve the Cosmonaut cocktail: one part vodka, two parts Tang. Yuri’s Night has brought a hip, youthful, creative vibe to the traditionally stodgy/nerdy field of space exploration, Young says.

It has melded serious and speculative science with art, fashion, design, music and even cuisine (think cakes in the shape of the Hubble Space Telescope), attracting a crowd that doesn’t attend traditional scientific gatherings.

“I’ve heard it described as ‘Science meets Burning Man,'” says the astronomer, referring to the annual celebration of self-expression in the Nevada desert.

Even NASA has embraced it. One of the biggest Yuri’s Night parties, attracting thousands, takes place at NASA’s Ames Research Center near San Francisco. This year, the keynote speaker there is space tourist Richard Garriott.

Next year will be huge for Yuri’s Night because April 12, 2011, marks the 50th anniversary of Gagarin’s 1961 flight.

Young says the Manitoba Museum has booked an exhibit about the history of space flight to run from January through April 2011, and he hopes to build a bigger Yuri’s Night bash around it.

Yuri’s Night runs from 7 to 11 p.m. on Monday at the Manitoba Planetarium. Admission is $10, cash at the door.

alison.mayes@freepress.mb.ca