CARW2016 - Mirrors on the Moon Mystery Cache
Hidden : 2/25/2016
Difficulty:
2.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works
Looking for a different adventure?

Related Web Page

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

This is out of this world, but not fiction. There are mirrors on the moon!

Why are they there? They are for the Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment which measures the distance between the Earth and the Moon using laser ranging. The arrays were placed on the moon during the Apollo missions (namely 11, 14, and 15) and the Soviet Lunokhod missions (1 and 2). The experiments provided many interesting results.

From Wikipedia:

  • 1. Lunar laser ranging measurement data is available from the Paris Observatory Lunar Analysis Center and the active stations. Some of the findings of this long-term experiment are:
  • 2. The Moon is spiraling away from Earth at a rate of 3.8 cm per year. This rate has been described as anomalously high.
  • 3. The Moon probably has a liquid core of about 20% of the Moon's radius.
  • 4. The universal force of gravity is very stable. The experiments have constrained the change in Newton's gravitational constant G to (2±7)×10−13 per year.
  • 5. The likelihood of any "Nordtvedt effect" (a differential acceleration of the Moon and Earth towards the Sun caused by their different degrees of compactness) has been ruled out to high precision, strongly supporting the validity of the Strong Equivalence Principle.
  • 6. Einstein's theory of gravity (the general theory of relativity) predicts the Moon's orbit to within the accuracy of the laser ranging measurements.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Bar bs gurfr guvatf vf abg yvxr gur bguref.

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)


Advertising with Us