Location quandary

[+Star*Hopper]

Serious question. Let's just say I "have connections", and can get a cache placed for me aboard the ISS. I can't for the life of me think of what I'd publish for the coordinates. Any suggestions?

~*

[+Too Tall John]

From the guidelines:

You as the owner of the cache must visit the site and obtain the coordinates with a GPS. GPS usage is an essential element of geocaching. Therefore, although it is possible to find a cache without a GPS, the option of using accurate GPS coordinates as an integral part of the cache hunt must be demonstrated for all physical cache submissions.

Not too sure, but will a GPS even work in the ISS, assuming it was in a stationary location?

 

Not to mention some other limitations:

Caches may be quickly archived if we see the following (which is not inclusive):

• ...
  
• Caches placed in areas which are highly sensitive to the extra traffic that would be caused by vehicles and humans (examples may include archaeological or historic sites).
  ...
  
• Caches near or on military installations.
  

You better believe that having a geocacher on the ISS would make a big impact on the people there, as there is limited space & resources. Pretty sure it's got enough military hardware on it to qualify as an installation, as well.

 

[+Too Tall John]

Actually, if you could get past the rest of it, the coords are easy: a launch pad at Cape Canaveral.

[+J-Way]

Actually, if you could get past the rest of it, the coords are easy: a launch pad at Cape Canaveral.

Or Russia, if NASA every goes through with its threat and retires the shuttle. List the coords as the launch pad and make it a "Mystery/Unknown" or "Multi".

 

The problem is that there's no way it'll ever get published; mere mortals aren't allowed on the ISS, so normal people won't be able to log it as a find.

[+Lasagna]

Launchpad idea wouldn't work either ... the cache needs to remain in a fixed location. The ISS is not in a geosync orbit, so it would result in the cache constantly changing coordinates.

 

Now ... a travel bug ... you could certainly turn the ISS into a travel bug by suitably affixing an appropriate "tag" to it if you happened to have the necessary connections.

[AZcachemeister]

I have done work at a company that builds equipment to provide precise space (orbital) location via GPS satellite occultation.

Even so, it's a moving cache...no way around that fact!

[+J-Way]

After more thought I'll also have to nix the launch-pad coordinate idea. Current guidelines state that the final must be within 2 miles of the listed coords. The ISS is a bit out of range.