One Giant Leap Mystery Cache
Hidden : 7/16/2009
Difficulty:
4 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."


-- Neil Armstrong, as he made the first step onto the Moon’s surface.

Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. The first steps by humans on another planetary body were taken by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on July 20, 1969. The astronauts also returned to Earth the first samples from another planetary body. Apollo 11 achieved its primary mission - to perform a manned lunar landing and return the mission safely to Earth - and paved the way for the Apollo lunar landing missions to follow. This cache is placed in tribute to that great achievement which occurred 40 years before the placement of this cache.

The cache is not located at the posted coordinates, although that would be a good place to park when you go after this cache! To find the actual coordinates, you must first do some research about the Apollo 11 mission. The cache itself is a bison tube hidden in a traditional manner. Finding the cache should be no problem once you solve the puzzle!

The actual UTM coordinates for the cache are :

15 S abcdef ghjkmnp


To determine the coordinates for the actual location of this cache, first find the answers to the following questions. Here are some useful references. I cannot vouch for other sources such as Wikipedia.

* Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
* Apollo 11 Timeline (NASA website)

a. Besides Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 had a third crew member, who stayed in orbit around the Moon in the command module while Armstrong and Aldrin made their landing. For the value of “a”, who was the third crewmember?

Frank Borman (a = 2)
Michael Collins (a = 4)
Alan Shepard (a = 6)
James A. Lovell (a = 8)


b. For the value of “b”, the name of the Apollo 11 command module was:

Yankee Clipper (b = 5)
Endeavour (b = 6)
Odyssey (b = 7)
Columbia (b = 8)



c. For the value of “c”, the Apollo 11 mission was launched on:

July 14, 1969 (c = 4)
July 15, 1969 (c = 5)
July 16, 1969 (c = 6)
July 17, 1969 (c = 7)



d. For the value of “d”, the location of the lunar landing site of Apollo 11 was:

Oceanus Procellarum (d = 6)
Fra Mauro (d = 7)
Mare Tranquillitatis (d = 3)
Taurus-Littrow (d = 9)



e. For the value of “e”, the lunar coordinates of the Apollo 11 landing site were:

00.77408 °N latitude, 23.57297 °E longitude (e = 2)
00.67408 °N latitude, 23.47297 °E longitude (e = 4)
00.68408 °N latitude, 23.47247 °E longitude (e = 6)
00.67508 °N latitude, 23.46297 °E longitude (e = 8)



f. For the value of “f”, the name of the Apollo 11 lunar module was:

Eagle (f = 1)
Falcon (f = 4)
Orion (f = 2)
Intrepid (f= 0)




g. Find the distance (in km) that the lunar module landed from the originally intended landing site. Divide by 2 and use that value for “g”.



h. What time was it in Arkansas when the lunar module landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969? Convert the time to 24-hour clock time and add the hours, minutes, and seconds together to get a 2-digit number. Add the two digits together and then add 1 to get the value of “h”.



j. What time was it in Arkansas when the first step was taken on the Moon on July 20, 1969? Convert the time to 24-hour clock time and add the hours, minutes, and seconds together to get a 2-digit number. Add the two digits together and subtract 11 to get the value of “j”.



k. The part of the mission where the astronauts left the lunar module and walked on the surface of the Moon is called an Extravehicular Activity (EVA). How many minutes did the EVA last for Apollo 11 (hatch open to hatch closed)? Ignore the seconds. Subtract 32 from this total and divide the new number by 15 to get the value of “k”.



m. What was the total time on the lunar surface (in hours and minutes), between lunar module landing and takeoff? Add the number of hours to the number of minutes to get a 2-digit number. Divide by 15 to get the value of “m”. Round UP to get a whole number (Example: 16 hours + 25 minutes = 40. Divide 40 by 15 = 2.73. Round UP to 3.)



n. A plaque was left on the Moon, attached to the leg of the descent stage of the lunar landing vehicle. The plaque read,

HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH
FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON
JULY 1969 A.D.
WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND

The plaque had 4 signatures on it – those of the three Apollo 11 astronauts and a fourth. Subtract 2 from the number of letters in the last name of the 4th signee for the value of “n”.



p. Although Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon, it was not the first manned mission to travel from the Earth to the Moon. How many other manned missions had traveled to the Moon prior to Apollo 11? That number is the value of “p”.



I hope you enjoy this puzzle and this cache! You can check your answers for this puzzle using the website's Solution Checker (below). Note that you must first convert your UTM solution to standard coordinate format (N DD MM.MMM W DDD MM.MMM) to use this checker! Here is a helpful website to use to make this conversion: www.cachesleuth.com

Additional Hints (No hints available.)



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