Although cockroaches probably originated somewhere in Africa, today they are everywhere. They thrive in English coal mines over 2,000 feet deep, are pests in Alaskan steam tunnels, and infest
every type of structure here, from planes to oil rigs sitting in the ocean.
But many people wonder how the roaches get into homes and apartments. Cockroaches easily travel to new locations, usually undetected because of their love of dark, tight places. Apartments have super highways for crawling pests in the form of electrical wires, phone lines, and pipes that connect units.
Roaches or their egg cases are easily carried home hidden in a shopping bag or box. They can easily crawl into pant cuffs or a purse on a bus, at a grocery store, etc. They can arrive hidden in
furniture, boxes, or plant pots. Cockroaches also travel through sewer systems.
As we someday venture further into outer space, we will most likely take these pests with us. Indeed, during a pre-flight check of the historic Apollo 12 command module, a single cockroach was found inside the capsule, and the sighting was noted in the mission log. Only after the flight was well on its way did anyone remember the roach. It was never seen again, and no one knows what happened to it—if it crawled off the space ship before the doors were sealed, if it traveled to the Moon and back, or if, as some wonder, it made it to the Moon, and perhaps survived somewhere deep below the surface, waiting…