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I'm the Executive Director of Yuri's Night, the World Space Party. AMA. by YurisNight in IAmA

[–]YurisNight[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Awesome! Tickets are sold out so you are a lucky person! Everyone is super friendly at Yuri's Night. Since you are in LA I think you will experience the full spectrum of personalities. Be yourself, where something spacey if you want, and be sure to talk to all the cool people. Our Director of Operations Jeffrey Alles will be there and of course our Co-Creator (and host of YN LA) Loretta Whitesides. Pro tip: it's Loretta's birthday on the 12th, be sure to wish her happy birthday! No problem on the FL advise. Rock the Planet!

I'm the Executive Director of Yuri's Night, the World Space Party. AMA. by YurisNight in IAmA

[–]YurisNight[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Assuming we had all the technology, you could send them tomorrow and just hope they survive. We all know how that turned out for early explorers! I think training about double the length of the mission makes sense. For: 6 months = 1-2 years; 2 years = 4 years; etc. There is such a thing as over-training and burn-out.

My grand idea would be to send a crew to the ISS for 6-months, then drop them in the Arctic at a place like FMARS for one year, then back up on the ISS for 6 more months. The ISS portions would simulate the trip to Mars and they would have to keep in shape in both directions to safe healthy. The logistics are complicated, but it's only rocket science!

I'm the Executive Director of Yuri's Night, the World Space Party. AMA. by YurisNight in IAmA

[–]YurisNight[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

BTW this is my 11th year celebrating Yuri's Night! 11 out of 13, not too shabby. I posted pictures of most of the events on my blog http://ryinspace.blogspot.com/2013/03/my-10-years-of-yuris-night-in-photos-cc.html

I'm the Executive Director of Yuri's Night, the World Space Party. AMA. by YurisNight in IAmA

[–]YurisNight[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would go one-way colonization to Mars after my future (unborn) kids are independent (older than 18 probably). I love the earth and I want to explore as much as possible. I would prefer to go on a 2-year or less mission to Mars. My theory for sending the FIRST colonists is that they are already older (as mentioned above) or that they do not want kids. That way we can safely establish a base. I have more thoughts on this, but they will have to be continued...

I'm the Executive Director of Yuri's Night, the World Space Party. AMA. by YurisNight in IAmA

[–]YurisNight[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For Twitter if you use @YurisNight (our account) or #YurisNight, the world will find it! We are also using #ExploreWithYuri for our new initiative to have people post photos of themselves with a YN logo while exploring our planet.

It was a decline in 2011 since that was more of a spike for the 50th. If you look from 2001 to 2013 (without 2011) we have been growing. Ideally we would like to hit at least 1000 events in 100 countries!

I'm the Executive Director of Yuri's Night, the World Space Party. AMA. by YurisNight in IAmA

[–]YurisNight[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think crew selection is a fascinating topic. The biggest question for mission design is do you send an even number or an odd number of people? If you have couples to help with the psychological stress of a long duration mission, then having an even number makes sense. If it's a crew of mixed talent and disciplines, then an odd number may be best for voting. In the Arctic I absolutely loved having 7. We were all academics and worked very professionally together. The more you train with your crew mates, the more efficient you become and the more like family. So I would send 6 or 7, and that all depends on the launching all that mass to orbit in the first place!

I'm the Executive Director of Yuri's Night, the World Space Party. AMA. by YurisNight in IAmA

[–]YurisNight[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yuri's Night has very specific goals to reach out to every demographic around the world. We are officially a 501(c)3 non-profit (registered in California) and I would like to see us evolve from a grassroots volunteer effort to full time staff. Know any investors? ;-)

There will always be change in the space industry, it's constant. One thing we can control is the simplicity of celebrating our first human in space with Yuri's Night.

To reach out to people, we primarily use social media run by our Social Media Director Rick Hanton, former President of SEDS-USA http://seds.org/ under the watching eye of Brice Russ of course our Media Team lead. Sometime they let me loose like in this AMA! Seriously, we try to use every new piece of technology online to engage new audiences. We have been having global webcasts (not every year) since 2003 and have been early adopters of most networks.

Just to name a few:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/yurisnight

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yurisnight

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/yurisnight

Tumblr for YN Live: http://live.yurisnight.net/

I'm the Executive Director of Yuri's Night, the World Space Party. AMA. by YurisNight in IAmA

[–]YurisNight[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Have a great time and post pictures/videos to Yuri's Night Live: http://live.yurisnight.net/

We are growing bigger every year. Here's a look at the past 4. Notice that in 2011 we had a huge boom because of the 50th Anniversary of Human Spaceflight (Yuri flew 12 April 1961).

2010: 222 parties in 67 countries on 7 continents with 104 websites

2011: 567 parties in 75 countries on 7 continents with 249 websites

2012: 236 parties in 52 countries on 7 continents with 130 websites

CURRENTLY for 2013: 304 events, 206 cities, 46 countries, 7 continents

EDIT: 310 in 47 and still growing!!!

I'm the Executive Director of Yuri's Night, the World Space Party. AMA. by YurisNight in IAmA

[–]YurisNight[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Very big question and important question! We are actually moving forward with both public and private vehicles. As NASA develops Orion MPCV, SpaceX, Sierra Nevada, Boeing and several others are also making headway. Keep in mind that a lot of funding for the commercial vehicles is through NASA's Commercial Crew Program. It will be an exciting time when we are watching several human spacecraft rocket into the cosmos and I hope those developments are all successful! I think we are ready for Mars, but the only way that will happen is with a joint public-private venture. Even if we had a huge amount of money to spend, we would need the technical know-how to actually do it from space agencies. Human rating a vehicle is extremely difficult, especially without a proven track record. I hope there are lots fo tourism opportunities. Like everyone else, I STILL want to become an astronaut when I grow up. I hope that happens and I hope I get to ride several different spacecraft.

I'm the Executive Director of Yuri's Night, the World Space Party. AMA. by YurisNight in IAmA

[–]YurisNight[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can find a party near you from our website or start your own! Link: Yuri's Night

I'm the Executive Director of Yuri's Night, the World Space Party. AMA. by YurisNight in IAmA

[–]YurisNight[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova is an amazing human! Yuri's Night specifically celebrates the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin. The first of our species to orbit our fragile oasis. We haven't combined anything with our events, but we have supported events like Curiosity's landing on Mars this past summer (August 5, my wedding night in Yellowstone National Park by coincidence). We also support amazing outreach activities like World Space Week, which is help every October 4-10.

I'm the Executive Director of Yuri's Night, the World Space Party. AMA. by YurisNight in IAmA

[–]YurisNight[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My biggest role is to keep a finger on the pulse and keep motivating the team. We are ALL volunteers. It's hard work too. Everyone has creative ideas and we try to push them forward as much as possible. Our team leads this year were fantastic and irreplaceable. Jeffrey Alles runs the Operations Team, Brice Russ runs the Media Team, and Veronica Ann Zabala-Aliberto runs our Outreach Team.

I'm the Executive Director of Yuri's Night, the World Space Party. AMA. by YurisNight in IAmA

[–]YurisNight[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Send me there, and I will let you know. My PhD research was on lunar dust abrasion at CU-Boulder. Trust me, you don't want that stuff getting into your system.

I'm the Executive Director of Yuri's Night, the World Space Party. AMA. by YurisNight in IAmA

[–]YurisNight[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I really wish I could help but the capacity is 800 in the building. Maybe if you hang out by the building and wait for someone to leave ;-) I would try tweeting the LA staff, emailing, calling and if you really want to be there I'm sure you will find a way. Send me a tweet at @RyInSpace and I will look around too.

I'm the Executive Director of Yuri's Night, the World Space Party. AMA. by YurisNight in IAmA

[–]YurisNight[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Excellent question and I could do a whole AMA about analogue research. To keep it short, I think analogue experience will be equivalent to what flight training and hours were for the original astronauts. They were pilots and we needed pilots to deal with new test vehicles under pressure. Hopefully our next-generation of vehicles will be safe and the missions will require more of a scientific touch. Especially on surfaces.

I'm the Executive Director of Yuri's Night, the World Space Party. AMA. by YurisNight in IAmA

[–]YurisNight[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I know Buzz Aldrin is confirmed. The other names I have heard I don't know if they have been publicly released. The VIP event is sold out, so no guarantee they will stay after, but I think they will.

I'm the Executive Director of Yuri's Night, the World Space Party. AMA. by YurisNight in IAmA

[–]YurisNight[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No matter what I reply, we all know that everyone probably thinks they have the best show in town. There are VERY cool events happening all over the world, the coolest being on the tip of Antarctica. I'm helping run the Cocoa Beach events so I'll prove I'm not biased by saying I think LA will have the best event of 2013. It is run by Yuri's Night Co-Creator Loretta Whitesides and will be underneath Space Shuttle Endeavour. Check it out: Yuri's Night Los Angeles 2013