Yuri’s Night (YN), a non-profit organization, brings people together every year for a global celebration of April 12,1961: the day the first human flew to space. The mission of Yuri’s Night is to use the excitement and inspiration of space as a catalyst for global transformation.
In an effort to spread the message of unity and hope during the COVID-19 pandemic, Yuri’s Night has shifted their event from an in-person celebration to a live webcast that will feature Astronauts and advocates for Space Exploration taking over the live feed throughout the event.
The online party will go live at 4 p.m. PT on Saturday, April 11 on Yuri’s Night YouTube page https://www.youtube.com/YurisNight. A special global webcast site, http://webcast.yurisnight.net, has been created to show the breakdown of the special guests and a sign-up for email alerts of the webcast.
Viewers are invited to submit space-related questions via the YouTube chat during the show. Loretta Whitesides, Co-Creator of Yuri’s Night, and Yuri’s Night L.A. MC Gray Bright will kick things off and share hosting duties with The Everyday Astronaut, AstroAthens, Cariann Higginbotham and Cas Anvar of the Expanse.
Special features include:
- A conversation with Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield about his message for Earth right now.
- NASA Astronaut Nicole Stott sharing her art and her vision
- A conversation on isolation with NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly, who spent a year on the International Space Station and Bob Weir, founding member of Grateful Dead, member of Dead & Company and Bob Weir & Wolf Bros. Weir is a Goodwill Ambassador working with the UN agency to end poverty while fighting climate change.
- Stories from the International Space Station – from Korean Astronaut Soyeon Yi and Cady Coleman.
- Bill Nye CEO of Planetary Society, Robert Picardo from Star Trek Voyager, Rod Roddenberry from Roddenberry Foundation.
- A message from Nick Rhodes – founding member of the iconic band Duran Duran accepting this year’s Spirit of Yuri’s Night Award.
The webcast has been a labor of love for the Yuri’s Night team, who consist of volunteers, giving their time and skill set for the passion of sharing Space exploration to the world.
Yuri’s Night Global Webcast Facts:
- Date: Saturday, April 11, 2020
- Start time: 4 p.m. PT and expected to last a few hours
- Webcast link: https://www.youtube.com/YurisNight
- YN Webcast Information: http://webcast.yurisnight.net