Crary Lab Puzzle Mystery Cache
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Difficulty:
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(regular)
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To solve this puzzle, you will follow a route through Crary Lab, not dissimilar to the Sunday afternoon tours sometimes given, taking note of clues along the way. Access to the clues are during business hours, or as part of a Sunday tour group. The cache itself is accessible 24/7. [Note: cache has disappeared as of 2017-18 season, send me a description of GZ or a photo to claim the find until the physical cache is replaced.]
The Albert P. Crary Science and Engineering Center (“Crary Lab”) at McMurdo Station was dedicated in November 1991. The laboratory is named in honor of geophysicist and glaciologist Albert P. Crary, the first person to set foot on both the North and South Poles. The laboratory contains state-of-the-art instrumentation to facilitate research and to advance science and technology. It contains modern personal computers and workstations, a computer-based geographic information system (GIS), and a local area network. It has laboratory space, analytical instrumentation, and staging areas for a wide range of scientific disciplines. The laboratory also supports special activities, including environmental monitoring, snow and ice mechanics, and meteorology.
To solve this puzzle, you will follow a route through Crary Lab, not dissimilar to the Sunday afternoon tours sometimes given, taking note of clues along the way. Access is during business hours, or as part of a Sunday tour.
Starting at the given coordinates, come inside the foyer. Crary Lab is built in three “phases”, perched at different levels on the hillside, and connected by an enclosed sloping passageway. You are in Phase One, which holds the lab offices and biological projects.
Look at the display cases with earth sciences and biological and expedition exhibits. These cover a century of activity in Antarctica, and highlight the science history of the US Antarctic Program.
The two predecessor laboratories were the Eklund Biological Lab and the Thiel Earth Science Lab.
(1) The latter is named after Edward Thiel, who died in a plane crash in 19(A=_)1.
Across the foyer is a display case with an Adelie penguin and a skua that died after swiping someone’s nachos from a blue tray. Behind these birds is the plaque commemorating Albert Crary.
(2) Crary passed on in 19 (B=_)7.
Looking down the hall at individual project lab spaces, typically with Big Reds hanging outside, turn and look at the small case across from the skua. Antarctica is the world’s best place to find meteorites, given that anything sitting on top of the ice sheet is likely to have fallen on it. In this case are several examples.
(3) On the right is EET 87(C=_)1(C=_).
Now stroll down the ramp towards Phase Two, which holds geological projects and IT support. Look for a plaque in a window sill, the third on the right side. This commemorates Michael Ebel’s permanent snowdrift, for architecturally tying together the biological and geological communities – tongue in cheek, but recognizing that Crary Lab came from a merger of what had been separate science communities. Update: The plaque has now been removed, so the hint may be read in context below ;).
(D) The Ebel Drift was established in September 200(D=_).
Strolling down farther, the lowest and smallest tier is Phase Three. It contains the aquarium tanks and a “petting tank” where guests may gently touch Antarctic sea creatures that were typically surplus to a study or inadvertently acquired in a net.
(5) The aquarium bay room number is 3(E=_)3. If you’re nice, someone may let you touch sea stars in the petting tank.
Coordinates of the cache are at: S77 CE.BBA, E166 DE.ECE. Good luck! Cache is in a metal can that contains a plastic case and log materials, thanks to nzkeko for providing the latter (kit seeded from Chapel of the Snows). A pocketknife or flat-bladed screwdriver will be useful in opening the can. Please replace the can oriented as you found it, as this can be a busy area in summer. [See note above re claiming find.]
Small note on cache maintenance: There is a local cache guardian. Name and contact info on file with geocaching.com.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Yrsg bs gur ybnqvat qbbe, haqre cvcr