(BLACK PR WIRE/FAMU-TALLAHASSEE) – On October 22, Astronaut Douglas Wheelock became the first person to check in on Foursquare from outer space. According to CNN, 220 miles above Earth, Wheelock unlocked the NASA explorer badge by checking into the International Space Station via laptop.

On its way to reach four million users, Foursquare is a location-based social network that allows users to check in at venues as simple as coffee shops and as great as the Eifel Tower and compete for virtual badges and mayorships of hotspots, and is one of the most rapidly growing social networks.

According to CNN, after unlocking the NASA explorer badge that can only be unlocked in space, Wheelock sent out a message from his Twitter feed that said “I just unlocked the NASA Explorer badge on @foursquare!”

Dennis Crowley, co-founder of the social network, was overjoyed by the news of the new space badge being unlocked. He told CNN, “Check–ins from around the world have been cool, but this blew my mind! I can’t wait to see the battle for the mayorship of the International Space Station.”

According to Foursquare, since its launch in March 2009, it has over 15,000 venues testing out ideas on how they can partner with the social network to provide special offers on the site.
Wheelock’s check-in from space marked the beginning of the partnership between NASA and Foursquare as reported by CNN.

After only 19 months in operation, Foursquare is taking its place among other large social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.