7 Minutes Later Mystery Cache
Hidden : 8/3/2012
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: other (other)

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Geocache Description:

NASA's Curiosity rover became the seventh, and easily most ambitious, rover mankind has ever attempted to send to Mars. This puzzle cache is dedicated to the exploring spirit that causes us to overcome challenges, and in the process to learn about the worlds around us.


The numbers above are bogus. You have to solve the puzzle below to get the real cache location.

On Sept 6th, 12:24 am CDT, 2012, JPL started to receive data from the Curiosity rover as it entered the Martian atmosphere and performed a complicated process to land on the surface. When it entered the atmosphere, everyone knew it wouldn't be until "7 minutes later" that they would know if it was either safe and sound on the surface of the planet of Mars, or another failed space mission. In fact, "7 minutes later" became the moto, as it were, of the mission.

As each stage of its journey to the surface, the crew at JPL clapped and applauded as it performed flawlessly each task until it reached the Martian surface and it was announced that it had safely landed at 12:32am CDT ( In reality, the actual time it landed was at 12:14am CDT because there is a 13 minute lag due to the vast distance between us and Mars ).

We hope this puzzle reminds you of the long line of accomplishments over the years that helped lead to this phenomenal achievement.

Knowing a little about space exploration will lead you to this cache. After all, you have your GPS technology because of all these highlights too. Have fun!

Russian Spaceflight Highlights
  • Vostok 6 -- First woman in space
  • Soyuz 1 -- First in flight fatality
  • Voskhod 2 -- First EVA
  • Mars 1 - First Mars flyby
  • Luna 9 -- First autonomous lunar landing
  • Venera 4 -- First Probe in Venusian atmosphere
  • Venera 5 -- First Probe to parachute into Venusian atmosphere

American Spaceflight Highlights
  • Magellan -- Venus radar mapper deployed on STS-30
  • Voyager 1 -- Jupiter mission
  • Pioneer 5 -- Venus probe
  • Viking 1 & 2 -- USA's first two landings on the planet Mars
  • Galileo -- Jupiter probe deployed on STS-34
  • Hubble Space Telescope -- deployed on STS-31
  • Apollo 11 -- First men on the moon


Congrats to johnwip on FTF!



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Additional Hints ()

gval ybt va n pncfhyr xrcg fnsr ol uvtu grpu cebgrpgvba znxvat vg fcnpr jbegul bs pbhefr

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)

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