SCA - Shuttle Carrier Aircraft Traditional Cache
SCA - Shuttle Carrier Aircraft
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Space Shuttle Series
NASA uses two modified Boeing 747 jetliners, originally manufactured for commercial use, as Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA).
The SCAs are used to ferry Space Shuttle orbiters from landing sites back to the launch complex at the Kennedy Space Center, and also to and from other locations too distant for the orbiters to be delivered by ground transportation. The orbiters are placed atop the SCAs by mate-demate devices, large gantry-like structures that hoist the orbiters off the ground for post-flight servicing, and then mate them with the SCAs for ferry flights.
NASA 905 was the first SCA. It was obtained from American Airlines in 1974. Shortly after it was accepted by NASA it was flown in a series of wake vortex research flights at the Dryden Flight Research Center in a study to seek ways of reducing turbulence produced by large aircraft.
The SCAs have a wingspan of 195 ft. 8 in., a length of 231 ft. 10 in., a height to top of cockpit area of 32 ft. 1 in., and a max. gross taxi weight of 713,000 lbs. They are powered by four Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7J gas turbine engines, each producing 50,000 lbs of thrust. Minimum crew for a flight is two pilots and one flight engineer. Minimum for mated flight is two pilots and two flight engineers.
Bring a note pad for the clues to the final cache!!
Log the final cache at GC3A0DA!
Space Shuttle Series Notes:
This series is in the Mojave desert, an extreme harsh enviroment.
Know your abilities.
Bring plenty of water even in winter.
Tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back.
Bring a cell phone.
This series will take several hours to complete by foot.
Enjoy!
Congratulations to nascarfamily5 and Grizzly & Mama Bear for Co-FTF!! Wow! They did it in the dark on New Years Eve!!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
C.B.E.
Treasures
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