Year: 2013

/ Paige Edmiston /

Behind the Scenes: My Travel Bug®’s Mission to Space

Guest Blog Post By Robert Cizaukas (Username: Cizzors)

geocachinginspaceclassroom
The students from Waterbury’s Chase Elementary School, the same school Astronaut Rick Mastracchio’s graduated from.

This journey all began on August 29, 2013. I read a story in the Waterbury Republican American Newspaper titled, “Waterbury native to spend 6 months out of this world”. It was an interesting story about a Waterbury Public School graduate, Rick Mastracchio (Username: AstroRM) who had become an astronaut and was headed to the International Space Station (ISS) in November 2013. I had never met Mr. Mastracchio, but had previously read about his accomplishments. Later that day, I was out geocaching with my brother-in-law, Tony Jannetty (Username: DavidPuddy) working on the 31 Days of Geocaching streak when the newspaper article about Mastracchio came up in conversation. We had previously talked at length about the ISS geocache and the Travel Bug® that had been there. Tony said that he had an idea that he thought I should pursue: If I could get Mastracchio to take a Travel Bug up to the ISS,  it could be an inspirational and educational opportunity for the children of Waterbury – a once in a life time experience with space travel and geography. We brainstormed what the program would look like and how we would find a way to contact Mastracchio to pitch the idea to him.

Cizzors
Robert Cizauskas, aka Cizzors.

I had a lot of interest. I was born and raised in Waterbury, Connecticut and graduated from the public school system. Waterbury is a city that faces many of the same problems that other urban areas around the United States experience, including in its public school system. As a City of Waterbury Police Officer, I have the opportunity to currently serve as the Lieutenant in charge of the Waterbury Police Activity League (PAL). Waterbury PAL is a nonprofit organization run by police officers designed to promote partnerships between law enforcement, the community and youth through educational, recreational and athletic activities. I have used geocaching as an interesting way to engage the at-risk youth that we service.

To get in touch with Mastracchio, I began to doing online research and asked around. Through a co-worker that had gone to school with a relative of Mastracchio, I was able to get in contact with him. Mastracchio was interested in finding a new way to engage children in his mission and  began emailing me directly with questions about geocaching and Travel Bugs. Finally, Mastracchio informed me that he would take the Travel Bug with him to the ISS. Mastracchio was excited to use this Travel Bug as an educational tool and had many of his own ideas on how to make this project even more exciting for the children participating in the project. I had originally planned to work with Waterbury’s Chase Elementary School on this project because Mastracchio had graduated from this elementary school and I thought this could be a truly inspirational project for the children of that school to know that through hard work anything is possible. I activated the Travel Bug (TB5JJN1) and took it to the school for pictures with the kids. I explained the project to the children and teachers and, shortly after, sent the Travel Bug to Mastracchio.

Mastracchio came up with an idea of adding 11 hitchhiker tags labeled “Exp 38” to represent Expedition 38, the mission that he was taking the Travel Bug® on. Mastracchio wanted to add 10 additional schools and give each school a hitchhiker from the Travel Bug® that had been to the ISS. I contacted additional schools about the project and visited classrooms to explain what we were planning. All of the schools quickly signed on to be part of this once in a lifetime experience.

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The Expedition 38 crew. Astronaut Rick Mastracchio is third from the left in the back row.

To make this an interactive experience for the children involved, Mastracchio took pictures of the Travel Bug® along the way and posted them online for the students involved to see where the Travel Bug® had traveled and to engage them in classroom discussions about the locations and significance to space travel. Students have also been posting their own pictures and questions on the Travel Bug page. Mastracchio took the time to view the page and answer questions about NASA, Space Travel, and the ISS. Mastracchio is scheduled to launch from Russia on November 6, 2013 at approximately 11 pm ET, and I expect all of the excitement related to this project to continue for the entire six months that he is on the ISS.

Geocaching has decided to award a souvenir to anyone that attends a Geocaching in Space event on November 6th or 7th. I setup the first of over 500 Geocaching in Space Events around the world in Waterbury (GC4PEVR). These events will be an excellent way to celebrate the launch of Mastracchio and the Travel Bug®. Mastracchio commented that all of the attention the expedition was getting  from geocachers is “incredible”.

TB5JJN1
The International Space Station Travel Bug II (TB5JJN1), by the 5th Grade Class of Chase Elementary School-Waterbury, CT

An amazing and unexpected part of this project has been the notes that geocachers from around the world have posted to Mastracchio and the students on the Travel Bug® page. The students involved have been reading these posts regularly in their classrooms and have been learning about each country the geocachers are from. Many of the posts are in languages other than English, which is offering additional learning opportunities for the students as they decipher what is posted. The teachers and students have embraced this project, making cards, posters and pictures that we have posted to the Travel Bug® page for everyone to see.

From the very beginning, Tony and I envisioned that this project would be an educational opportunity for one urban school of children to learn that, through hard work and dedication, anything can be accomplished, like Mastracchio has proven. Mastracchio will use the Travel Bug® to teach the students about what he does, so it might inspire some young person to strive for something he or she never expected they might be capable of. This Travel Bug® project continues to exceed our expectations as more and more countries from around the world become involved. I am very thankful to Mastracchio, Geocaching HQ, Tony, the Waterbury Public School System, and geocachers around the world for supporting this educational effort. Everyone involved is elated in anticipation of this Travel Bug® launching to the ISS, and are extremely excited to see this epic geocaching adventure unfold.

See you on the trails……

Cizzors.

Get Involved!

Follow Rick Mastracchio on Twitter

Attend a Geocaching in Space Event (Events vary between November 6 and November 7 depending on your global location)

Leave a message of support for Rick Mastracchio and to the students in Connecticut on the Travel Bug page – and read messages between the two.  

Want to know more? Check out the Geocaching in Space FAQ and  Geocaching into Space Event Center.

Any other questions or comments? Ask away in the comments below!

/ Paige Edmiston /

Geocaching Quick Quiz: Geocache or Log?

It’s a question geocachers face almost everyday on the geocaching trail, is that a geocache or log? Check out the image below of three logs and a stick. Do you best geocaching detective work. Can you crack the case?

geocacheorlog2
Logs or geocaches??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To reveal the answers…

Just.

Scroll.

Down.

…

 

You’re.

Almost.

There.

The answers revealed! Are you a geocaching cache detecting superstar?

 

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Did you guess right?

For a look behind the scenes at more creative geocache containers and ideas, visit Shop Geocaching and check out the Creative Geocaches video below. What is the most camouflaged geocache container you’ve come across? Tell us about it in the comments.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2j3byPfoYQ]

/ Eric Schudiske /

1 Geocaching App Trick to Rule Them All

WeeklyMailer_101413_OfflineLists_vFINAL_blogIt’s a button that makes geocaching out of the country or in the deep prehistoric world of “no cell phone service” as easy as a Terrain 1, Difficulty 1. Whether you’re using the Geocaching Pro App for iPhone or theGeocaching Android App, this miracle of engineering simplicity is called “Save to Offline List.”

Use a Wi-Fi hot spot to load up your Offline List with geocaches. Then, turn off your data roaming and look under “Saved” on iPhones or “Offline Lists” on Android and SHAZZAM! Your geocaches are available, your phone isn’t using costly roaming data, and you’re saving battery life. You can sort the list by distance, Favorite Points, title, GC code or geocache type.

Another option for Premium Members is using a Pocket Query. For example, if you’re headed to the last remaining APE Cache in the jungles of Brazil, here’s what to do: create a Pocket Query (Saved List) of all the geocaches in that area on Geocaching.com and then save it on your phone as an Offline List when you have cell service. Another tip, make sure your phone is fully charged for your adventure.

Now you’re off into the wild with plenty of geocaches loaded up and ready to go.

/ Derek H /

Sometimes Geocaching Makes You Go… — Nuts (GC41D4C) — Geocache of the Week

Can you spot the geocache? Photo by Tattletales
Can you spot the geocache? Photo by Tattletales

Many of us know it: geocaching can be addicting. It can even make you go a little cache-crazy. Once you have your first “OMG! I found it!” moment, you’re hooked. For those of us in the geocaching community, we know the feeling. For other people who haven’t been introduced to the fun, it might seem like we’re a little nuts. This week’s Geocache of the Week celebrates all of the geocaching nuts throughout the world, because, like the geocache owner says, “After all, is there anyone nuttier than a geocacher?”

Nuts (GC41D4C) might seem like another creative looks-like-part-of-the-tree container, but it’s so much more than that. The geocache doubles as a functioning squirrel feeder, so don’t be surprised if you make a furry friend on your geocaching adventure. Also, it’s placed with permission and not in a way that harms the tree. Once you open the first door to the geocache, the fun begins. Geocachers must solve a moving-square puzzle in order to access the geocache. The geocache creators, Tattletales, tells the story of how this geocache came to be, “It took a full week to design and draw up this nutty cache, and another week to construct it.  It’s a challenge to make caches ‘cacher proof’, but strangely enough, this one has never had a mechanical failure!” And regarding keeping this geocache in tip-top shape, they say, “I do spend time adjusting and repairing my caches.  That’s why I plant them close to home.”

The puzzle. If you can't solve it, you can always just eat some of the nuts out of the squirrel feeder part. Photo by Tattletales
The puzzle. If you can’t solve it, you can always just eat some of the nuts out of the squirrel feeder part. Photo by Tattletales

The more that 200 geocaching nuts who have solved the puzzle and earned their smiley have awarded this geocache over 150 favorite points so far. They’ve also left many positive logs, like geocacher doogelah, who said, “I really enjoy this sort of cache, where the hunt isn’t too difficult, but the construction is top notch, and you have to engage your brain to finish the task. The first of several favorite points I’m going to award this evening. Thank you for putting such effort in to make caches that are worth a little extra drive!”

Regarding all of the positive logs and favorite points, Tattletales says “[We] are delighted with the posts we receive on our caches.  The posts make it all worthwhile.  Reading the posts in the evening is great fun for both of us.  And yes, receiving favorite points is fun too!” And they have a piece of advice for the geocaching community: “Every cache has a value.  They can be in an interesting place, have a fun factor, or just be somewhere that gets you out of your chair to do a bit of exercise.”

A creative geocache like this is the perfect example of the type of geocache that can turn a day-to-day geocacher into a geocaching nut. What geocache solidified your geocaching passion? Tell us in the comments.

Continue to explore some of the most engaging geocaches around the globe. Check out all the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog.

If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, leave a comment below with the name of the geocache, the GC code, and why you think we should feature it.

The puzzle in action. Animation from this video.
The puzzle in action. Animation from this video by geocacher blucheez.

Editors note: Thanks for geocacher blucheez for posting a video of this geocache on reddit.com/r/Geocaching. Check out his full blog post with (Spoiler Alert) videos of a few of Tattletales’ other geocaches.

 

/ Annika /

Geocaching in Space FAQ

WeeklyMailer_100713_GeocachingInSpace_vFINAL_blog (1)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.

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