On the evening of 11 April 2011, the international initiative Yuri’s Night lifted off in the Russian capital with a festival co-organized by RSC Energia where hundreds of young rocket engineers celebrated the historic flight into space by human kind. During the event, ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli, together with his crew mates Dmitry Kondratiev and Cady Coleman, sent greetings from the International Space Station encouraging future explorers to keep the space spirit up. Veteran cosmonaut Vladimir Solovyov, who logged 361 days in space, also attended the event to highlight the vital role that young people should play in human spaceflight. The action ended with the launch of thousands of luminous baloons with Gagarin's portrait into the night sky.