Students ask – Astronaut Rick Mastracchio answers
On his final trip to Space on November 2013, Astronaut Rick Mastracchio packed along a Geocaching Travel Bug to the International Space Station (ISS). The little Travel Bug connected with students all over the world to teach about space travel, science and geography.
UPDATE 2/5/2014: Geocaching Travel bug Weehawk made it to the MetLife Stadium to witness the Seahawks win the 2014 Super Bowl. Geocacher and Seahawks fan Bogey53 picked up the smallest 12th man and took it along to celebrate the first SuperBowl win for Seattle’s football team. Here is the proof:
A Geocaching Travel Bug might just be the key to winning it all for a major sports team. Skeptical? Don’t try telling Swanny6416 their fiery little world traveler didn’t help propel the Seattle Seahawks to football’s biggest game. The family of four die-hard Seahawks fans launched Weehawk in August. The Travel Bug’s mission was simple.
Swanny6416, or Shawn and Criselda as their non-geocaching friends know them, say, “On August 17, 2013, we sent Weehawk on his journey to Super Bowl XLVIII in New York. He was placed in a cache location in Federal Way (near Seattle) in hopes of eventually finding his way to the big game where he would meet the team. We had high hopes that Weehawk would work his way across the country but figured it would be a long shot, at best, for him to make it through hostile territory since a lot of “enemy” NFL team fans live between us and New York.”
Geocachers will move Travel Bugs from geocache to geocache closer to it’s goal.
But as the Seattle Seahawks won football game after football game, their small Travel Bug mascot named Weehawk drifted farther and farther from New York.
The geocachers say, “On December 27th, Weehawk was picked up in Hawaii and the following message was sent: ‘Well, I guess the little one had his vacation in Hawaii — quite far from its goal. Luckily, I am in a position to help it along towards its destination, with however quite a big detour…’ Even though the odds of Weehawk returning to New York were seemingly insurmountable, we had every expectation that he would succeed, just like our beloved Seattle Seahawks journey through the playoffs.”
Fate, in the form of motivated geocachers, would intervene. Weehawk was now far, far, and yet another “far” away from New York. The Travel Bug wondered to Indonesia to begin 2014. But the geocachers who launched Weehawk, believe the Travel Bug would be crucial in helping to the Seahawks make it to New York for the big game.
The Travel Bug was taken from a geocache in Indonesia by a geocacher. Weehawk landed in a New York geocache just miles from Met Life Stadium, where football’s biggest game will be played this Sunday.
Shawn and Criselda say, “He was then taken to New York City on January 19th and dropped off a mere 15.8 miles from Met Life Stadium! This was the same day that the Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers for the right to go to the big game!” Coincidence? The Swanny6416’s don’t think so either.
But it’s not close enough. They say, “Weehawk is waiting for a [Seattle Seahawk’s fan] to pick him up and take him to the game. He is currently at Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, NY hiding near some granite pillars that were to be used in the construction of Grand Central Station! We’re hoping by sharing our story with you, you can share our story, and maybe another fan can get him to the game.”
So many questions. Will Weekhawk’s appearance at the game ensure a Seattle Seahawks win? Are you going to the game? Will you make this Travel Bug’s dream come true? Answer them all in comments below.
Still want more? Watch the TV news story about Weehawk’s adventure.
The year is now 2014. You probably know that. If not, well, let us be the first to wish you a Happy New Year! And what’s a new year, without a few new goals? For 2014, we’ve collected 14 New Year’s resolutions for geocachers from the global geocaching community. Everyone’s resolution is different, but we bet there’s at least one for you. We hope this list inspires you to push yourself to explore more, see new locations, meet new people, and of course, find more geocaches.
1) |
Host or attend a geocaching event
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2) |
Create a creative geocache that will earn (many) Favorite Points
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3) |
Find a minimum of 365 geocaches
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4) |
Have one day where you find 24 geocaches in 24 hours
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5) |
Solve the Puzzle Caches that stumped you in 2013
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6) |
Log DNF’s (Did Not Find)
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7) |
Add 5 more countries to the list of places where you’ve found geocaches
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8) |
Spend more time geocaching with family
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9) |
Forget about the numbers, just have fun geocaching
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10) |
Reach a milestone that ends in three zeroes (like 2,000)
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11) |
Fill your Difficulty and Terrain chart on your statistics profile
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12) |
Be the First to Find at least once
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13) |
Find a Terrain 5
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14) |
Discover a geocaching location that makes you say “wow” once a month
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We’d love to hear what your goals for 2014 are. Share your resolution with the geocaching community in comments below.
Geocaching is heading towards the International Space Station (ISS). All of geocaching? No, not all of it, but a very special little Travel Bug® named TB5JJN1 is tagging along with Nasa astronaut Rick Mastracchio on his mission to the ISS. Mastracchio will be using the Travel Bug as an educational tool to help teach students around the world about geography and geocaching. Mastraccio will Rocket into Space on November 7, 2013 (GMT). Every geocacher who attends a Geocaching Event on November 6 or 7, 2013 will be awarded a “Geocaching in Space” souvenir. In additional, Geocaching in Space Mission Patches will be sold, and proceeds will to the educational charity DonorsChoose.org.
[Click for information on the Seattle Geocaching in Space Event]
You don’t read the words, “We’re going to space!” very often. So, how about we soak up the joy of reading those words once more? Let’s add a little pizzazz and shout it by using all capital letters: “WE’RE GOING TO SPACE!” Yeah! A Geocaching Travel Bug® is hitching a ride with astronaut Rick Mastracchio straight to the International Space Station. The mission is currently scheduled to launch from Kazakhstan at 4:08 GMT on November 7, which is 5:08 a.m. in Berlin and November 6 at 8:08 p.m. in Los Angeles. (Convert to your time here.)
Rick will live aboard the ISS for 6 months. He plans to use the Travel Bug as a tool to teach students on Earth, in his home state of Connecticut, about geography and science. He’ll also earn the Solar System’s most elusive smiley and find the International Space Station geocache.
We’ll be following Rick the whole way, beginning at liftoff. Ready for some more pizzazz? Geocaching HQ will issue a Geocaching in Space souvenir to those who attend Event Caches during the launch. You can watch the launch live online or check out the recording later and celebrate the geocaching community’s spirit of exploration.
Find out answers to frequently asked questions and everything you need to know about hosting a Geocaching in Space event at the Geocaching in Space Event Center. We’ll be updating this blog post with the latest information about the launch as it happens. All Event Caches must be submitted at least two weeks before the scheduled launch date of November 6. For more information on Geocaching in Space and Rick’s mission, visit the Geocaching in Space FAQ.
Check out this vintage Geocaching video of the first Travel Bug journey to space.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW7psaxQXM0]
