Since it's way too expensive to place a cache on Mars,
also dusty and very difficult to breathe, I thought I'd set up this
"virtual tour" puzzle tour using Google Mars.
Good luck and enjoy the scenery along the way. The
listed coordinates are on the planet Earth and have nothing to do
with your search on Mars.
You'll be walking, or driving your specially built
Martian Rover.
There is a proper noun (name) associated with each
Surface Feature (or object) you visit. Note a numeric value
for the first letter of each proper noun (name) using the
convention A=1, B=2, C=3.......Z=26 (Example: "North Pole" =
14)
Sol 01:
You've landed on the surface of Mars at the
following coordinates:
-14.568434°,
175.475455°.
From the landing coordinates (above):
Walk 384 meters on a heading of 50° to
________=X1.
From X1 you walk 430 meters on a heading of 156° to
_________________=X2.
From X2 you walk 550 meters on a heading of 104° to
_________________=X3.
From X3 you walk 2013 meters on a heading of 119.33° to
_____________=X4.
From X4 you walk 280 meters on a heading of 170.5° to
_______________=X5.
From X5 you walk 500 meters on a heading of 168.0° to
_______________=X6.
(Checkpoint: X6 is at approx 14.603°
175.526°)
It's getting late here at X6. You're tired and
covered with dust, but your "Spirit" is high. Before you end your
day you decide to examine some nearby photos. In one of those
pictures ("McMurdo Panorama") there's a cool hill on the horizon at
a heading of 125°. It's name is
_____________=X7.
Sol2:
Starting back at the landing coordinates, today you jump
in your Martian Rover and:
Drive 40 kph for 3 hours at a heading of 243.0° to
_________=X8.
From X8 drive 3624.85 kilometers on a heading of 58.61°
to ____________=X9.
(Note: Highest Point on Mars)
From X9 drive 7478.26 kilometers on a heading of 78.15°
to the center of a small crater named
__________=X10.
From X10 walk about 265 meters on a heading of 190.00
stop, look around. and you'll see a piece of space debris called
the ________=X11.
From X11 walk 3.5 miles on a heading of 175° and if you
haven't fallen in, you'll be looking down into the crater
named____________=X12.
(Checksum = 122)
Final coordinates of the cache (on Earth)
are:
LAT: AB CD.EFG LONG: -105 HI.JKL
Where:
A = X5 - X1 = _______
B = X2 - 4 = ________
C = X7 - X4 = _______
D = X8 - 3 = ________
E = X9 - 6 = ________
F = X3 - 3 = ________
G = X9 - X11 = ______
(Checksum = 50)
H = X2 - X7 = _______
I = X9 -X11 = ______
J = X12 - 21 = ______
K = X10 - 3 = ______
L = X6- 6 = ________
(Checksum = 12)
The cache is a camoed pill bottle with log only and room
for a few coins etc.
You can check your answers for this puzzle on
Geochecker.com.