Fort celebrates Space Party, Junior Rangers

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site will hold a pair of celebrations on Saturday, April 15, with National Junior Ranger Day followed by the Yuri’s Night World Space Party.

Both events will be based at Pearson Air Museum, 1115 E. Fifth St. Both are free and open to the public.

Children who complete activities with national park rangers will receive a Junior Ranger badge. The program, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., is designed for children 6 to 12, but younger children can complete it with help. Older children and adults are welcome to participate. The event will be offered both in English and Spanish. Bilingual storytelling sessions will be offered at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

From 5 to 9 p.m., the Yuri’s Night World Space Party will celebrate the 56th anniversary of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s historic flight into space. Gagarin was the first human to travel into space, and Yuri’s Night events across the globe have been commemorating this event for decades.

Gagarin received his training at the Soviet Union’s First Chkalov Air Force Pilot’s School in the 1950s. The school was named after Valery Chkalov, who piloted the first trans-polar flight from Moscow, Russia to Pearson Field in 1937.

Space exploration and aviation-themed family-friendly activities will be offered. Weather permitting, children can design and launch water-powered rockets until dusk.

Tom Billings, president of the Oregon chapter of the National Space Society, will present a lecture — “NASA and New Space: Going Outward Together” — at the Tex Rankin Theater at 6 p.m. Weather permitting, there will be a star-gazing tour of the park from 8 to 9 p.m.