What this cache is:
This is a cache representing the Voyager 2 spacecraft, a 1,592 lb robotic space probe of the outer Solar System and beyond. It is located approximately 180.0 miles from the Vgr2 - Sun cache in Concord, CA. This represents the approximate scale distance of Voyager 2 from the Sun as of August 2009.
Voyager 2
Voyager 2 was launched August 20, 1977. It remains operational, currently pursuing its extended mission to locate and study the boundaries of the Solar System, including the Kuiper belt and beyond. Its original mission visited Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; and it was the first probe to provide detailed images of Uranus and Neptune along with their moons. Since its planetary mission is over, Voyager 2 is now described as working on an interstellar mission, which NASA is using to find out what the solar system is like beyond the heliosphere. Like Voyager 1 three years before, Voyager 2 crossed into the heliosheath, the last section of the heliosphere before interstellar space, in October 2007.
This is the final and bonus cache in a series that creates the model of the Solar System with objects located (where possible) in different California Counties, USGS Quadrangle sections, and DeLorme pages that are primarily north of Concord. For this cache:
County: |
Humbolt |
USGS Quadrangle: |
Miranda |
Northern California DeLorme: |
Page 53 |
California DeLorme: |
Page 39 |
Parking for this cache is available within 50 feet. The coordinate accuracy was +/- 15 feet at the time of the reading. The elevation is approximately 1,880 feet. Keep that in mind when attempting this in the Winter where weather conditions may limit access. The container itself is a regular sized ammo can.
The Sun for the Vgr2 Solar System Model is located near the center of Concord in a triangle bounded by I-680, CA-4, and CA-242 and is named Vgr2 - Sun. Objects are placed at a distance from Vgr2 - Sun relative to their average orbital distance (+/- 5%). The scale used is 2 miles for every Astronomical Unit. An Astronomical Unit is the average distance between the Sun and the Earth. With this scale, Neptune, the farthest planet, is in the range of 59.5 to 60.9 miles distant. Eris, the farthest dwarf planet, is in the range of 128.6 to 142.1 miles distant. Sorry folks, Pluto is now classified as a dwarf planet and is in the range of 75.0 to 82.9 miles distant.
Prerequisite:
To find the cache, you must have found all 15 object caches (the sun, the 8 planets, the 5 dwarf planets, and the asteroid belt), and collected the number associated with the coordinate code letters from each of those caches.
What to do if you have found all 15 object caches:
The cache is located at: North QP KJ.HGF and West AYX VU.TSR. To derive the final coordinates for you search, do the following math (the small letters correspond to the value you recorded when you found the other 15 caches):
- A = a + 0
- F = f - 1
- G = g - 2
- H = h + 5
- J = j - 4
- K = k - 8
- P = p - 5
- Q = q - 4
- R = r + 8
- S = s + 6
- T = t + 4
- U = u + 5
- V = v - 0
- X = x - 4
- Y = y - 4
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
If you can't get the coordinates to come out right, recheck your work and try again. If you are still having problems, send me a message with the coordinates you derived and the data values you used for the coordinate code letters.
Why the difficulty rating of 5.0?
This cache has a difficulty rating of 5.0 due to the large amount of travel required to reach it (over 1,100 miles total for most folks.) The cache itself, if it were just a single-stage, would have a difficulty rating of 1.5. If you do your homework, it is possible to do this entire series in three (long) days. The total round trip from the Vgr2 - Sun cache to the Voyager 2 (August 2009) cache is some where between 1,100 - 1,300 miles, depending how often you double back to for missed exists, find other caches, etc.
Upon placement, the cache contained:
- Log book and pen
- FTF grand prize: Gas money (rounded to the nearest whole dollar) to travel 1,300 miles at 25 miles per gallon at $0.19 / gallon (1951 gas price) OR at $3.07 / gallon (2009 gas price). You'll have to decide which it is and is it worth it to make the trip. Could truly be either, but not both.
- STF prize: Shuttle Crew Emblem for STS-125 Atlantis. STS-125 was this final servicing mission of the Hubble Space Telescope.
- TTF prize: Shuttle Crew Emblem for STS-125 Atlantis. STS-125 was this final servicing mission of the Hubble Space Telescope.
- book: The Pluto Files, the Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet by Neil deGrasse Tyson
- book: How to Build Your Own Spaceship by Piers Bizony
- kit / book: Discovering the Solar System (in a large baggy to fit it into the ammo can) by David W. Hughes and Carole Stott
- travel bug: "Hidegoseek's Lost Coast Geocoin" reference number TB2YCED.
- travel bug: "Tusken Raider" reference number TB2AY6G.
Why is the cache located in this area?
As of August 2009, Voyager 2 was at a distance of 89.88 AU (approximately 8.35 billion miles) from the Sun. At the above distance, light or radio waves, which travel at 670,616,629 miles per hour, take over 12.4 hours to reach the Earth from Voyager 2. As a basis for comparison, the Moon is about 1.4 light-seconds from Earth, the sun is approximately 8.5 light-minutes away, and the nearest star is 4.3 light-years away. As of June 2009, Voyager 2 was traveling at a speed of approximately 34,700 miles per hour. I hope to be placing an additional cache every year starting August 2010 to mark the anniversary of its launch.
Other stuff:
Please consider visiting the other caches in the Vgr2 Solar System Model. This link will take you to a list of the Vgr2 caches. You may also pick from the table below.
For more information on Voyager 2, visit its Wikipedia description.
For more information on the Solar System, visit its Wikipedia description.
The idea was inspired by TeamJiffy's great series I finished at the end of 2008; Northern CA Solar System Model: Comet Halley