This year marks ten years since the first International Geocaching Day (IGD) on August 20, 2011. What started as an idea for another way to celebrate the 2011 Geocaching Block Party has turned into its own yearly tradition that celebrates our global game and the international community of geocachers that makes the game so special.
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Tracking the world’s first wooden satellite
| You can soon log the world’s first wooden satellite, WISA Woodsat. WISA Woodsat is a research satellite with a mission to do material research in space. More specifically, explore the use of birch plywood in spacecraft structures. Plywood is a natural composite material and for decades it has been used as a structural material in many demanding industrial applications such as aircraft structures and propellers, windmill blades, as well as truck, trailer, and bus floors. WISA-Birch plywood is also used in LNG tanker ship insulation elements where the material needs to handle -163C (-261F) freezing temperatures. Plywood is strong and easy to work with and therefore the most common use of plywood is in buildings where the panels are used for creating load-bearing floors, walls, and roofs. Heat, cold, and moisture are normal elements on the Earth’s surface but in space, the material faces different challenges. WISA Woodsat has two specific research focus areas – “super drying” and outgassing caused by the vacuum in space and harsh unfiltered UV radiation.The satellite carries a suite of sensors to measure changes in the wood material. But the primary way of observation is a camera, which is mounted on a unique selfie stick. The camera enables monitoring of the visual changes in the wood material. But, for the Geocaching community, the selfie camera has an alternative purpose. WISA Woodsat travels around the Globe once every 1.5 hours, making it an ultimate Travel Bug (TB9GB8G). You can log WISA Woodsat by finding the tracking code from the pictures, which the satellite has taken with its selfie camera. The satellite uses LoRa radio, which is possible for radio amateurs to communicate with the satellite directly. You can download your own images from the satellite. But, if you do not have your radio equipment at the ready, you can visit wisawoodsat.space and explore the image gallery. WISA Woodsat is scheduled to launch from New Zealand with Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket before the end of 2021. Lots of unexpected events can happen in space so this schedule is subject to change. Add TB9GB8G to your Watch list to be notified with the very latest information. |
Geocache of the Week Flashback Edition: Arachnophobia
“Seeing a spider isn’t a problem, it becomes a problem when it disappears…” -Unknown
Geocaching takes us to incredible places, helps us tackle challenges we once thought were out of reach, and sometimes even forces us to face our fears. For those of us with a fear of spiders, this geocaching gem can help you overcome your arachnophobia with a cache bearing the same name!
This week, we’re headed to Nevada’s state capital to revisit GC2XHEQ, a cache we featured back in 2014. Nestled only a few miles east of world-famous Lake Tahoe, Carson City’s historic downtown invites you to learn about the history of the region, and collect a few finds in a picturesque setting close to the heart of government in the Silver State.
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Get Lost with Geocaching and Wild Basin
There’s a pristine, untamed place in the Rocky Mountains called Wild Basin, where tall trees stand sentinel over winding paths and bubbling waterfalls. It’s a place people visit to escape, get away from wifi, work, and social media. It’s a place people ago to Get Lost. Wild Basin Hard Seltzer is named for this mountain wonderland, with hand-crafted flavors inspired by nature.
Grab a can of Wild Basin, ditch your responsibilities, and take a hike because getting outside can improve your life. Studies show that just five minutes of exercising outside can increase your mood and self-esteem. That’s why we’re partnering with Geocaching to send adventurous souls like you out into the wild to seek prizes totaling $15,000.
Sign in to your Geocaching account and fill out a form here to apply for a Wild Basin trackable, then share your Wild Basin + Geocaching experience on social media with the hashtags #WildBasinGetLost and #Sweepstakes for the chance to win a Wild Basin hammock. Go ahead, Get Lost at geocaching.com/WildBasin.
ABBREVIATED RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. ALCOHOL IS NOT PART OF THE PRIZE. Void in NY and FL and where prohibited. Open to legal residents of U.S. and D.C., 21 or older at time of entry. Sweepstakes begins 12:01 am ET on 8/3/21 and ends 11:59 pm ET on 10/31/21. Subject to full Official Rules; for full rules, including odds, prize descriptions and entry info visit www.geocaching.com/wildbasin. Sponsored by CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective LLC d/b/a Oskar Blues Brewery, Longmont, CO. This Sweepstakes is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. This Sweepstakes is in no way sponsored or administered by Groundspeak, Inc. DBA Geocaching.
Discover hidden gems by filtering with Favorite points
Have you ever filtered your geocache search by a certain number of Favorite points? Using this filter makes it easy to see which geocaches stand out from the rest and are community favorites.
But how exactly does filtering for Favorite points change my usual search for geocaches? We’re glad you asked! For a specific example, let’s take a look at what a cache outing in London looks like when you use this Premium feature. London is a big city with a lot of geocaches. Even for local geocachers it can be difficult to narrow down a search when there are so many to choose from. Of course there are popular caches hidden at big attractions and landmarks, but it’s tough to look at the map and pick out caches that will take you to tucked away hidden gems. With the filter for Favorite points, this becomes much easier.
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