Liftoff at Yuri's Night (photos)

In a two-day celebration of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's first flight into space on April 12, 1961, thousands of people at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., joined revelers around the world Saturday for Yuri's Night. The party is now in its 10th year of commemorating the spirit and innovation of space exploration.

A day of student-focused workshops and speakers on Friday led into the weekend celebration that featured musicians and interactive art installations.

Beats Antique, the San Francisco-based experimental world fusion and electronic music group, perform inside the hangar at the research center on Saturday night.

Separated from his crew during the show, an astronaut attempts to make contact with friendly life forms.

Early Saturday evening, American and Soviet-era aircraft performed acrobatic maneuvers over Moffett Field, which is where the NASA Ames Research Center is located.

A climb into the 50-foot high retro-futurist rocket ship offers a great view of the sights spread out on the tarmac.

Astronauts and aliens danced to the beat during Yuri's Night.

One of the world's largest free-standing structures, Hangar One covers eight acres at NASA Ames. The building sits in the background as Les Claypool finishes his set on the outdoor stage Saturday night.

Inside the hangar, exhibits showed off technology behind humanity's exploration of space. This large composite image offers a 3D view of the surface of Mars.

The weekend featured speakers with otherworldly ideas such as SETI investigator Jon Jenkins and virtual worlds visionary Bruce Damer.

Musical headlines at Yuri's Night included N.E.R.D., The Black Keys, Les Claypool, Common, The Glitch Mob, Hamsa Lila, and DJ Qbert.

Following the air show Saturday evening, a reveler makes her way across the tarmac toward the stage for Les Claypool.

This video game put you in the driver's seat of a mission to the moon.