Space Tourist Richard Garriott Receives Award Made With Aerogel

Private astronaut Richard Garriott (also known as “Lord British”, the creator of the Ultima series) received the first-ever Spirit of Yuri’s Night Award in recognition of embodying the Yuri’s Night mission of using space and art to contribute to the future of humanity, both in space and on Earth.  Yuri’s Night is an annual worldwide celebration to commemorate the first human spaceflight made by Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961.

Read the press release here.

Designed by artist and Aerogel.org co-founder Will Walker, this year’s Yuri is the fist-ever award to incorporate aerogels. The plaque component of the award was custom laser-machined for Yuri’s Night by aerospace engineers Shannon Dong and Thomas Coffee at MIT. Engraved into the plaque is the same trademark, stylized likeness of Yuri Gagarin that serves as the logo for Yuri’s Night worldwide. Illuminated by diffused ambient light, Gagarin’s image glows with a subtle orange-gold hue. Accenting Gagarin’s image is a rosette of five flawless classic silica aerogel discs, the same material used to

insulate the Mars exploration rovers and used to capture comet dust on the Stardust probe. Their characteristic sky-blue cast is contrasted against the black background of the plaque, reminiscent of the contrast of our own spaceship Earth against the blackness of outer space. The particular aerogels used in the award are comprised of 96% air by volume and were produced by Aerogel Technologies, LLC using a robotic high pressure autoclave.

Production of the award was co-sponsored by BuyAerogel.com and Aerogel.org.