NOTE: The listed coordinates are NOT the location of this cache.
Apollo 15 Bonus
This is the 4th 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 15 spaceflight was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program, the eighth to be successful, and the fourth to land on the Moon. It was the first J mission, with a longer stay on the Moon and a greater focus on science than earlier landings. Apollo 15 saw the first use of the Lunar Roving Vehicle.
The mission began on July 26, 1971, and ended on August 7, the lunar surface exploration taking place between July 30 and August 2. Commander David Scott and Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin landed near Hadley Rille and explored the local area using the rover, allowing them to travel further from the lunar module than had been possible on previous missions. They spent 181⁄2 hours on the Moon's surface on extravehicular activity (EVA), and collected 170 pounds (77 kg) of surface material.
At the same time, Command Module Pilot Alfred Worden orbited the Moon, operating the sensors in the SIM bay of the service module. This suite of instruments collected data on the Moon and its environment using a panoramic camera, a gamma-ray spectrometer, a mapping camera, a laser altimeter, a mass spectrometer, and a lunar subsatellite deployed at the end of the moonwalks. The lunar module returned safely to the command module and, at the end of Apollo 15's 74th lunar orbit[18] the engine was fired for the journey home. During the return trip Worden performed the first spacewalk in deep space. The Apollo 15 mission splashed down safely on August 7 despite the loss of one of its three parachutes.
The mission accomplished its goals but was marred by negative publicity the following year when it emerged that the crew had carried unauthorized postal covers to the lunar surface, some of which were sold by a West German stamp dealer. The members of the crew were reprimanded for poor judgment, and did not fly in space again. Apollo 15 is also remembered for the finding of the Genesis Rock, and for Scott's use of a hammer and a feather to validate Galileo's theory that absent air resistance, objects drop at the same rate.
Apollo 15 Patch and Scott, Worden, & Irwin
FLIGHT SUMMARY:
| Commander:_ |
_David R. Scott |
| Command Module Pilot:_ |
_Alfred M. Worden |
| Lunar Module Pilot:_ |
_James B. Irwin |
| 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 26, 1971, 13:34:00.6 UTC |
| Landing Date & Time:_ |
_July 30, 1971, 22:16:29 UTC |
| Duration:_ |
_12 days, 7 hours, 11 minutes, 53 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 = e - 4
- D = k - 3
- E = f - 3
- F = c + 5
- G = h - 3
- H = a - 3
- J = b - 1
- K = a - 3
- L = d - 4
- P = p + 1
- Q = j - 1
- R = e - 1
- S = m + 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 15.
Click here to see the Wikipedia description for Project Apollo.
Click here to see the Wikipedia description for the Space Race.