NOTE: The listed coordinates are NOT the location of this cache.
Apollo 11 Bonus
This is the 1st of 6 US Spaceflight Apollo Bonus caches. There will be one published on the 51st anniversary for each Project Apollo moon landing. To be certain of deriving the coordinates for this one, you must first find and collect codes from a minimum of 12 of the 27 traditional caches representing all United States Spaceflight Missions of Projects Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. Click here to see all 27 traditional US Spaceflight caches.
The Apollo 11 spaceflight was the spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin, both American, landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC. Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface six hours later on July 21 at 02:56:15 UTC; Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later. They spent about two and a quarter hours together outside the spacecraft, and collected 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of lunar material to bring back to Earth. Command module pilot Michael Collins flew the command module Columbia alone in lunar orbit while they were on the Moon's surface. Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21.5 hours on the lunar surface at a site they named Tranquility Base before rejoining Columbia in lunar orbit.
Apollo 11 was launched by a Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, on July 16 at 13:32 UTC, and was the fifth crewed mission of NASA's Apollo program. The Apollo spacecraft had three parts: a command module (CM) with a cabin for the three astronauts, and the only part that returned to Earth; a service module (SM), which supported the command module with propulsion, electrical power, oxygen, and water; and a lunar module (LM) that had two stages – a descent stage for landing on the Moon, and an ascent stage to place the astronauts back into lunar orbit
After being sent to the Moon by the Saturn V's third stage, the astronauts separated the spacecraft from it and traveled for three days until they entered lunar orbit. Armstrong and Aldrin then moved into Eagle and landed in the Sea of Tranquillity. The astronauts used Eagle's ascent stage to lift off from the lunar surface and rejoin Collins in the command module. They jettisoned Eagle before they performed the maneuvers that propelled the ship out of the last of its 30 lunar orbits on a trajectory back to Earth. They returned to Earth and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24 after more than eight days in space.
Armstrong's first step onto the lunar surface was broadcast on live TV to a worldwide audience. He described the event as "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Apollo 11 effectively ended the Space Race and fulfilled a national goal proposed in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy: "before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."
Apollo 11 Patch and Armstrong, Collins, & Aldrin
FLIGHT SUMMARY:
| Commander:_ |
_Neil A. Armstrong |
| Command Module Pilot:_ |
_Michael Collins |
| Lunar Module Pilot:_ |
_Edwin "Buzz" E. Aldrin Jr. |
| Launch Vehicle:_ |
_Saturn V |
| Height:_ |
_363.0 feet |
| Stages:_ |
_3 |
| Stage 1 Diameter:_ |
_33.0 feet |
| Stage 1 Thrust:_ |
_7,891,000 lbf |
| Stage 2 Diameter:_ |
_33.0 feet |
| Stage 2 Thrust:_ |
_1,155,800 lbf |
| Stage 3 Diameter:_ |
_21.7 feet |
| Stage 3 Thrust:_ |
_232,250 lbf |
| Launch Date & Time:_ |
_July 16, 1969, 13:32:00 UTC |
| Landing Date & Time:_ |
_July 24, 1969, 16:50:35 UTC |
| Duration:_ |
_8 days, 3 hours, 18 minutes, 35 seconds |
Travel (that’s why it’s a D4.0):
Prerequisite:
To find this cache, you must have collected and recorded the numbers associated with the coordinate code letters of at least 12 of the 27 traditional caches representing all United States Spaceflight Missions of Projects Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. Click here to see all 27 traditional US Spaceflight caches.
Once you have all the codes, you will find the cache at N AB CD.EFG W HJK LP.QRS. To derive the final coordinates for your search, do the following math (the small letters correspond to the value you recorded when you found the caches):
- A = a - 1
- B = g + 5
- C = h + 1
- D = d - 2
- E = k + 2
- F = e + 1
- G = c + 2
- H = a - 3
- J = b - 1
- K = a - 3
- L = f + 2
- P = j + 5
- Q = m - 4
- R = p + 2
- S = d - 3
The US Spaceflight traditional caches are located in the following counties:
- 19 in Contra Costa
- 2 in Alameda
- 1 in Marin
- 1 in Sacramento
- 3 in Solano
- 1 in Sonoma
Code Frequency:
- a: 4 caches with this code
- b: 2 caches with this code
- c: 2 cache with this code
- d: 2 cache with this code
- e: 2 caches with this code
- f: 2 caches with this code
- g: 3 caches with this code
- h: 2 caches with this code
- j: 2 cache with this code
- k: 2 cache with this code
- m: 2 caches with this code
- p: 2 caches with this code
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You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
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If you can't get the coordinates to come out right, recheck your work and try again. If you are still having problems, send me a message with the coordinates you derived and the data values you used for the coordinate code letters.
TO LEARN MORE:
Click here to see the Wikipedia description for Apollo 11.
Click here to see the Wikipedia description for Project Apollo.
Click here to see the Wikipedia description for the Space Race.