Tradition and Transition: Yuri's Night L.A. 2023

Above: True-to-life scale models of droids from the Lucasfilm StarWars franchise pose with partygoers. 

Yuri’s Night has traditionally been a vehicle of expression, and a thematic night club of sorts for “nerds,” according to guest speakers. True to fashion, fans of the pop culture of Space poured through the doors of the California Science Center at 6 pm local time on April 8. 

Pop culture flare
With the meticulous detail of cinematic flare, the costumes featured every shade of silver, sparkle, and glowing orb. Star Wars, Star Trek, and many other favorites featured among the crowds. 
The ceremony opened with a DJ in the registration hall, juggling a keyboard, sound equipment, and an electric guitar with ease.

A knowing look passed between the DJ and a party-goer dressed as Darth Vader. The DJ shifted his sound mix to the Darth Vader theme, and the two shared a fist bump. The moment highlighted a theme that runs as a filigree thread through the whole event. The spirit of Yuri’s Night enunciates the concept of creating a new Space kind, that isn’t just mankind or humankind, that isn’t one select body of scientists or academia but is open to all interested people with the ambition to embark upon Space exploration. 
The panelists 
Dr. Jessica Watkins, a NASA astronaut representing the United States on the International Space Station, kicked off the night’s presentations with a highlight reel of her crew’s mission to the ISS from April to October 2022. Watkins was reportedly the first black woman to be on the International Space Station, an honor she received with pride at furthering the heritage of African-Americans in Space. 

During the opening segment, Watkins explained how the small crew of her mission on the ISS Space station conducted research in Space. Watkins detailed how it was to live, work, and play on the ISS station, highlighting things such as her work in a combustion chamber, the process of testing materials, and body samples from the crew as they observed human Space flight’s impact on humans. 

Watkins also gave insights into every day living, such as how the Space dinner table served  the center of community, how the observation windows were the crew's favorite gathering place, games they developed on board, and as the precious nature of the care packages sent up by reusable rockets,  which is the fact of another transition from historic missions. Care packages can now carry up fresh fruits, and in her highlight reel, Watkins showed a video of her crew floating citrus fruits in zero gravity. 

Watkins explained that the recent missions to the International Space Station have made use of SpaceX Dragon, and SpaceX craft that can send things back down to Earth from the mission field. SpaceX assisting craft are able to re-enter the Earth without burning up, something that holds great promise for emerging Space innovation and commercialization ahead. 

Civilian input highlighted 
The concept of civilian input in International Space Station missions is a repeating theme. Erika Wagner of Blue Origin highlighted Blue Origin’s plans to replace the ISS as it ages with a design of Blue Origin’s making during her presentation at the New Space Age Conference at MIT Sloan Business School on March 17. (Read more about that event).  

Engineers from Blue Origin, representatives of Club For the Future, and other independent innovators such as zero-gravity innovator G-Zero were in Yuri's Night L.A. attendance, and true to the spirit, sporting company uniforms and light saber props as they passed through the venue.  

Another fitting guest to represent this Yuri’s Night that kicked off shortly following the announcement of Artemis age NASA Moon mission crew members was special guest speaker Dr. Sian Proctor, who was on a career panel with Dr. Watkins and Star Trek and Space Force (Netflix) actress Tawny Newsome. 

“With great opportunity comes great responsibility,” said Dr. Proctor, explaining the road she took from geologist to astronaut. Proctor is the first black woman to pilot a Space flight. Proctor was selected to pilot the Inspiration 4, which was the first all-civilian mission to space. This civilian mission saw four crew members represent the mission pillars of leadership, hope, generosity, and prosperity. 

Tawny Newsome, Start Trek actress and American musician, was floored by the advances the two women had made in Space exploration, but swore that the only Space travel she could do was the pretend Space travel she had played on T.V. To that end, she steered the conversation toward what limits the two history-making astronauts might add to their own career trajectory.
“What is one job you couldn’t do?” panel proctor Tawny Newsome asked. 

For Watkins, it was the role of an actor, and for Proctor, it was the work of a politician. Yet, as they discussed the value of roles, the conversation moved to the hand-in-glove nature of Space exploration and the arts. Proctor explained the impact that Star Trek made on her growing up. Newsome's role as an actor was highlighted as a critical component of pop culture and inspiring endeavors of new and emerging Space exploration to press forward into what they do.

To that point, Watkins highlighted that the transition from the Old Space Age to the New Space Age is happening before our eyes: 

“We continue to see the ramifications of science fiction becoming science non-fiction,” said Watkins. 

A transition 
To Watkin's point, science fiction is rapidly giving way to non-fiction and the world of Space kind is constantly changing. 

As if symbolic of that fact, Yuri’s Night 2023 was a sweet send-off, at least for now, of the tradition of holding Yuri’s Night Los Angeles under the Endeavor Space Shuttle. Ever since 2013, Yuri’s Night party goers have danced the night away under the belly of the shuttle, but, as the California Science Center is under renovation, the shuttle will soon be moved, and the tradition must change. 

Yuri’s Night Founder Loretta Whitesides took this in stride, choosing to host next year’s Yuri’s Night on the same day in Texas, during the total eclipse of the Sun over North America. The break from tradition added what seemed like an official transition from the pre-Artemis age of space exploration to the Artemis era and all the stories that were soon to come with it. 

Looking forward 
The evening’s consensus was clear. Space exploration is no more the dominion of a closeted few scientists. As ambassadors wrapped up the evening with a call to go forth boldly, the underlying theme was this: that the arts inspire endeavors of future Space ventures, and that every person has a place in the future narrative of humanity’s Space exploration.