Foursquare checks in to outer space
A NASA astronaut has become the first person to check in to Foursquare from outer space. Pointless? Yes. Fun? I guess.
Foursquare is one of a number of services which offer people the chance to check in to a particular location. In essence, all of these – Facebook Places, Gowalla, etc. – are designed to allow people to tell their friends where they are at any given moment. I don’t really understand why anyone would want to participate, especially with the rather obvious security risks of telling others that you’re not at home. But still.
Foursquare has now secured a user in outer space, with NASA Commander Douglas H. Wheelock having checked in to the service from the the international space station earlier today. Doing so scored him the first Foursquare NASA Explorer Badge, which is now available to everyone who checks in from a number of places associated with the U.S. space program.
These places include the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, the Smithsonian Museum, NASA HQ, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The number who score the badge for actually being 200 miles above Earth is likely to be low, however, at least until Virgin Galactic starts flying into space allowing ordinary (but very rich) people to possibly nab it.
Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley issued a statement bleating:
Check-ins from around the world have been cool, but this blew my mind! We’re psyched to partner with NASA to help users explore the space program and the universe.
The bigger picture is one where two completely disparate organizations, one with its glory days well behind it and one with a very strong future, have come together to help promote each other. Foursquare gets publicity and scores a hit against its rivals in the location-based services sector, and NASA gets publicity and a chance to connect with a younger demographic.
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