Mark
your calendar for early November, 2013! Geocaching is rocketing into space once again. Astronaut Rick Mastracchio will deliver a Travel Bug® to the International Space Station. Mastracchio will be using the Travel Bug as an educational tool to help teach students around the world about geography and provide other educational lessons. The mission is currently scheduled to launch from Kazakhstan at 4:08 GMT on November 7 and we want you all to be there (at least in spirit). That means the launch is planned to liftoff at 5:08 a.m. in Berlin and November 6 at 8:08 p.m. in Los Angeles. Find out here what time the launch is in your part of the world!
Every geocacher who attends a Geocaching Event on November 6 or 7, 2013 will be awarded a “Geocaching in Space” souvenir.
*Quick note: As this is a real-deal rocket launch, it could be delayed. In this case we’ll issue the souvenir for attending an event on November 6 or 7, and for attending an event on the the actual launch date.
If you feel that you are an expert when it comes to Geocaching Event guidelines and are up to host a space event in your area, take a look at these tips to help your guests have an out of world experience:
1.) Think ahead. Neil Armstrong did not spontaneously decide to hop on a rocket and fly to the moon one day. Rumor has it there was some careful planning (and serious calculations!) involved. The same should apply to your Geocaching Event. Do you need to make reservations for a venue? Do you need to craft or decorate? Are there any questions you have to clear up before submitting your Event Cache? Keep in mind that you have to submit your Geocaching Event at least 14 days prior to the rocket launch, which means October 22 or 23 are the cut off days for your online submission.
2.) Think collaboration. You’ll want to get a crowd together to celebrate this once in a Trackable’s lifetime opportunity. To maximize the number of geocachers at your event, check to see if there is already another event published in your area. If there’s already an event, be a team player! See if you can help the event host with planning their event. You can share the load and maybe even serendipitously make a new friend.
3.) Think atmosphere. Unfortunately, NASA has a few rules about who gets to go to space, so we can’t all be out there with Rick Mastracchio, but that shouldn’t stop you from making your Event location look “spacetastic.” Here are a few ideas to space up your place:
- Hang up dark fabric sheets and stick a few aluminium foil stars on them.
- Remember the glow stars you stuck to the wall next to your bed when you were a kid (or an adult, we’re not judging)? It is time to get those out of the old dusty boxes in your basement.
- Collect a few paper towel rolls and get together with your family on a rainy day to craft some mini-rockets. Then have a contest at the event to see who can throw them the furthest up into space (or the air, as we call it on Earth).
We are sure you have many more ideas on how to decorate for the launch too. Share them with us in the comments below.
4.) Think astronauts. What are astronauts like? They are really, really smart—just like geocachers. To further improve the brain power of the international geocaching community, put together a little quiz for the event to keep everybody entertained and your brain cells in action. For example: “What year did the first man set foot on the moon?” or (some would say) more importantly, “When was the first geocache hidden?” You see the possibilities are endless and so is the universe (or at least it’s really, unimaginablybig).
American astronaut Rick Mastracchio
We hope that our tips will help make your geocaching in space event a superstar. Now we want to know from you, what you wouldn’t want to miss at a space event you are attending! Tell us in the comments below.
A few things to remember:
Scheduled Launch Date: November 6 (EST), 2013
Watch Launch Live: at 04:08 a.m. GMT on November 7 (11:08 p.m. EST on November 6) - Convert to your time zone here
Facebook Geocaching in Space Event Page: Coming Soon!
Geocaching in Space Souvenir Image: Coming Soon!
Geocaching in Space Souvenir Patch: Coming Soon! (Proceeds go to the educational charity Donorschoose.org)
Check out the Geocaching in Space FAQ to have all your questions answered!