April 12 is a memorable date, the anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s 108-minute orbital flight in 1961. It’s also the date, some twenty years later, when NASA launched Columbia, the first Space Shuttle (and boy do I remember the trepidation of watching that one go up). Celebrating these milestones is Yuri’s Night, marked by 119 parties scheduled in 32 countries on six continents. Check the celebration site for parties near you. And for stay-at-homes, be aware that Second Life is hosting one of the venues online. Thanks to Frank Taylor for the tip on this.
And note (via Larry Klaes) David S. F. Portree’s fine tribute to Gagarin’s accomplishment. Nice cover of an early 1930’s Science Wonder Stories on the same page. Somewhere Hugo Gernsback is smiling…
David S. F. Portree has a nice tribute to the Vostok 1 flight
and those who were part of it at his Altair VI blog here:
http://altairvi.blogspot.com/2007/04/yuri-gagarin.html
Google has paid a tribute to the Vostok 1 mission on its
main page here:
http://www.google.com/logos/yuri_gagarin.gif
But what is with the little blue aliens and why do they
only show the main capsule? Or should I be grateful
that they remembered at all and that it will make at
least a few people aware of the historic event?
Little blue aliens indeed. Google’s got imagination, at any rate.
Congratulations! Both for brave Soviet cosmonaut and American spaceship!
http://www.prometheus-music.com/audio/fireinthesky.mp3
Fire in the Sky by Jordin Kare
Performed by Kristopher Klover
Prometheus they say brought God’s fire down to man
and we caught it, tamed it, trained it since our history began
Now we’re going back to heaven just to look him him in the eye
and there’s a thunder ‘cross the land and a fire in the sky
Gagarin was the first back in Nineteen Sixty-One
when like Icarus unbounded he climbed to reach the Sun
And he knew he might not make it for it’s never hard to die
but he lifted off the pad and rode fire in the sky
But a higher goal was calling and we vowed we make it soon
and we gave ourselves a decade to put fire on the Moon
Apollo showed the world we can do it if we try
and there was one small step and fire in the sky
But two decades from Gagarin, twenty years to the day
came a shuttle named Columbia to open up the way
they says she’s just a truck but she’s a truck that’s aiming high
see her big jets burning, see her fire in the sky
Yet the Gods do not give lightly of the powers they have made
and with Challenger and Seven the price was once again paid
though a nation watched her falling yet a world could only cry
as they passed from us to glory riding fire in the sky
Now the rest is up to us there’s a future to be won
we must turn our faces outward, we must do what must be done
no cradle lasts forever, every bird must learn to fly
and we’re going to the stars! See our Fire In The Sky!
We also need to talk Jordin into writing a song about his sailbeam concept!
Very kind of Larry to point folks to my Gagarin account, and equally kind of you to mention it here. I was in a hurry when I posted that this morning, so didn’t manage to post everything I intended. I’ve done so now, however. The added stuff is mostly toward the end, after “Vostok revealed.” Enjoy.
It’s first-rate work, David. Well done!
Poyekhali!
In today’s space news from SpaceRef:
— The Blogosphere Reacts to Yuri’s Night at NASA Ames Research Center
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.nl.html?id=1205
— A Tale of Two Possible NASA Futures: Yuri’s Night and The National Space
Symposium
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.nl.html?id=1206
“I had a somewhat profound experience several days ago in
California – at NASA Ames Research Center to be exact. The
true impact of this event is still growing on me. You see, I saw
things I never thought I would see on a NASA base – things that
give me hope that what NASA does can be truly relevant to
people outside NASA’s traditional constituency. Moreover, I
saw indications that NASA can adapt to rapidly changing trends.
The experience? Yuri’s Night.”