WASHINGTON, D.C.--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 with the launch of its website and the opening of registration for new events.

"Yuri's Night is interested in raising awareness about all aspects of 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 space 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.

The official website for Yuri's Night 2008 has 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 hosted by the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., including a reception that is open to the public with the first woman to go into space, Valentina Tereshkova, on Thursday, November 15th. Contact loretta@yurisnight.net for more details.

Yuri's Night is a program of the Space Generation Advisory Council, an organization dedicated to engaging and developing the next generation of space leaders.

Media Contact:

Brice Russ
brice@yurisnight.net
(336) 908-1036
Director of Media Relations
Yuri's Night 2008