Yuri’s Night at the South Pole

Today, April 12, we celebrated Yuri’s Night at the South Pole. It is an international celebration held on April 12 every year to commemorate the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961, and the first Space Shuttle launch on April 12, 1981.

The goal of Yuri’s Night is to increase public interest in space exploration and to inspire a new generation of explorers, while having some fun at the same time. Last year 20,000 people directly participated in Yuri’s Night. 190 parties, in 50 countries, on 7 continents are planned for this year. Together with New Zealand we kicked off the celebration at the South Pole.

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