“This TB is so lucky. I wish I could tag along with it on its travels to the ISS. Godspeed.”  (bergmannfamily)

 “Wir wünschen dir und dem TB eine gute Reise.” (Pintubi-Duo)

“Ook uit België wensen we Rick, zijn team en de Travel Bug een goede ruimtereis toe naar het ISS.” (RHCV)

In the past weeks more than 250 geocachers from Belgium to Germany to Portugal to the USA left their congratulations and wishes for a safe journey on the International Space Station Travel Bug II trackable details page. NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio  (Username: AstroRM) will Rocket into Space on November 7, 2013 (GMT) and will bring this one lucky Travel Bug® along on his epic journey.

Being with Mastracchio while he is training for his flight to the International Space Station, this Travel Bug® has become a little bit of a celebrity. Somehow it still remains humble.

“My purpose is to educate and inspire!” the Trackable would say, if it could speak. On the Travel Bug® listing you can see, how it keeps this promise. Geocacher Lt. Robert Cizauskas (Username: cizzors),  the Trackable’s owner, explained how the mission for the Travel Bug® developed in a  look behind the scenes. To keep up with the educational goal of the mission, he went to Washington Elementary School in Waterbury, Connecticut to talk to students about space travel and geocaching. Questions came up that only an astronaut could answer, so Robert went ahead and posted them on the Travel Bug® page.

One student asked: “We learned that the body’s fluids shifts above your heart when in space. What does that feel like?” Astronaut Rick replied: “On earth your heart works hard to pump blood from your legs to your head. In space it does not have to work that hard to move the blood. When you first get into space your head gets puffy, and you feel like you have a headache. After a few days or a week your body adjusts and you return to normal.”

Have you learned about space travel in school? Do you and your classmates have any questions you want to ask a space expert? Now is your chance! Collect questions, that even your teacher can’t answer and post your question on the Travel Bug® page. You might get lucky and receive a reply from space. Keep an eye out for the reply by selecting “Watch This Trackable Item” on the right side under “Trackable Options”.

If you have any questions about Geocaching in Space Events, check out our FAQs or ask us in the comments below!