Yuri's Night Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Sputnik Launch

Washington, DC, October 05, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Fifty years from the launch of Sputnik, the day that marked the beginning of the Space Age, the space event organizational group Yuri's Night is celebrating with the official start of planning for its 2008 festivities.

"Yuri's Night is interested in raising awareness about all aspects of our history in space," said Yuri's Night Executive Director Loretta Hidalgo. "October 4th is a landmark date in space exploration, and we hope to make our own contribution to its history."

Yuri's Night hosts a series of parties around the world each April 12, the anniversary of the first manned space launch (by Yuri Gagarin) and the first launch of the Space Shuttle. Over 120 parties were held across 6 continents in 2007, with guests of honor including author Ray Bradbury, actor George Takei, NASA ARC Center Director Pete Worden, and private space travelers Anousheh Ansari and Greg Olsen. Parties ranged from the multimedia-packed flagship event at Mountain View, CA's NASA Ames Research Center, with an attendance in the thousands, to small get-togethers in cities like Lower Hutt, New Zealand and Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

As of October 4th, the official website for Yuri's Night 2008 has officially been launched at http://www.yurisnight.net. A list of registered events and instructions for starting your own party are available online along with pictures, video, and music from previous Yuri's Night events. Yuri's Night will also be involved with official celebrations of the Sputnik launch being held today at the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Yuri's Night is a program of the Space Generation Foundation, an organization dedicated to engaging and developing the next generation of leaders in space-related activity.

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