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NASA’s Mars Rover Perseverance is trackable via Geocaching! (TB5EFXK)

MissJenn

By MissJenn,
in Travel Bugs

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MissJenn

MissJenn

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Thanks to the Mars 2020 SHERLOC instrument team at Johnson Space Center, the newest mission to Mars - the rover named Perseverance - is trackable via Geocaching, truly taking geocaching out of this world!

 

https://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?tb=TB5EFXK

 

How cool is that?

 

How can I log this trackable if I’m not also going to Mars?

If you’re not blasting off anytime soon, don’t worry! You’ll still be able to log the Mars Rover starting around February 2021. Since the tracking code is on the WATSON camera’s calibration target, once Perseverance lands on Mars, the camera will take a picture of the tracking code itself and send that picture back to Earth. You can log the Rover by finding the code in that picture.

 

Watch the launch using this link. 

The Launch Window is July 30 - August 15, 2020 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

 

Landing: February 18, 2021 in the Jezero Crater, Mars

 

The Mars Perseverance rover mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. The Mars Perseverance mission addresses high-priority science goals for Mars exploration, including key questions about the potential for life on Mars. 

 

Perseverance has four main science goals:

  • Determine whether life ever arose on Mars
  • Characterize the climate of Mars
  • Prepare for human exploration
  • Characterize the geology of Mars - GEOCACHERS, TAKE NOTE!  Perseverance will be collecting geology samples and other materials, setting those aside in a special location, and then retrieving them later on: that is the original definition of “caching” something. (For example, sometimes outdoorsy people will **cache** a container of supplies in a remote forest cabin; they leave it there for months and retrieve/use it later when they return.) 

For so more information on Perseverance, please consult this Fact Sheet provided by NASA.

 

 

Mars Rover Perseverance TB5EFXK.png

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Max and 99

+Max and 99

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Foolie said:

When will TB5EFXK be unlocked, so it can be discovered?

 

How can I log the trackable if I’m not also going to Mars?
If you’re not blasting off anytime soon, don’t worry! You’ll still be able to log the Mars Rover starting around February 2021. Since the tracking code is on the WATSON camera’s calibration target, once Perseverance lands on Mars, the camera will take a picture of the tracking code itself and send that picture back to Earth. You can log the Rover by finding the code in that picture.

How can I follow the trackable’s progress?
You can follow Perseverance’s progress on the Mission Updates section of the NASA website. Updates will also be posted periodically to the trackable page, as well as in this blog!

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Max and 99

+Max and 99

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, MissJenn said:

How can I log this trackable if I’m not also going to Mars?

If you’re not blasting off anytime soon, don’t worry! You’ll still be able to log the Mars Rover starting around February 2021. Since the tracking code is on the WATSON camera’s calibration target, once Perseverance lands on Mars, the camera will take a picture of the tracking code itself and send that picture back to Earth. You can log the Rover by finding the code in that picture.

That's a long ways from now. Can we get an update when the Rover lands, or is knowing that information part of the challenge? I'm ok with either way. I'll be watching.

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CONDOR

CONDOR

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Posted

Yes! Great idea.

It could have been great fun...

 

Either this mission should have been kept secret and waited for revelation.
If the mission had already been "revealed", then it was necessary to ensure the confidentiality of the track code.

The publication of both things deprived me of fun and anticipation for D-Day.

 

Nevertheless, it's a nice idea.

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Max and 99

+Max and 99

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Jimrky said:

This is in my Outlook Calendar for February. Still working on getting Howard Wolowitz to hack the Mission Code so the transmission of the Trackable Code comes from our property on Mars, nicknamed "Smiling Cat Cottage, Mars". ?

Froot Loops will come thru for you!

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Bima78

+Bima78

Posted
Posted
On 7/29/2020 at 6:41 PM, ITRECKS said:

I found the code, but unfortunately the listing is locked :-(

I think you mean the code on the Trackable page. That code can be viewed by everyone. You can only post comments on the Trackable page with this code, once the listing is unlocked. To discover the Travelbug, you need the code that's imprinted on the Trackable itself. The only way is to wait until February, when the camera takes a picture of the code and sends it back to earth. 

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Tungstène

+Tungstène

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13 minutes ago, Bima78 said:

I think you mean the code on the Trackable page

 

No. I think they found the tracking code. I found it too, because I was intrigued by their sayings.

 

It's a rather amusing code, which doesn't follow ordinary tracking code format but that is clever because it plays with the name of the module on which it is written.

 

There is also a second (secret) code which is also thematically accurate. I let you discover and decrypt it. :bad:

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Bima78

+Bima78

Posted
Posted
On 8/10/2020 at 4:58 AM, OwenfromKC said:
Have you deciphered the Mars Curiosity Rover yet?
Unfortunately, I believe it has a typo. The letter F is displayed as a non existent backwards O.

You are right! I deciphered it, too. The 9th Sign is pictured wrong ?. 

But it's a cool Idea! 

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James0116

+James0116

Posted
Posted
On 7/30/2020 at 2:41 AM, ITRECKS said:

I found the code, but unfortunately the listing is locked :-(

 

Could you or someone who has discovered the existence of the code give me a hint on where to try to find/decode the trackable code(e.g. is the thing I'm looking for on this page or another page all together, like the NASA page?)

 

Thanks,

 

James0116

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Calypso62

+Calypso62

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Posted

I'll be watching the live stream of the landing. I think this is very exciting!! ?

 

After the landing and if all goes well, does anyone have any idea how long before the camera switches on and takes a photo of the calibration plate for the tracking code? Are we talking minutes, hours, days??

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Max and 99

+Max and 99

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Posted
50 minutes ago, Calypso62 said:

I'll be watching the live stream of the landing. I think this is very exciting!! ?

 

After the landing and if all goes well, does anyone have any idea how long before the camera switches on and takes a photo of the calibration plate for the tracking code? Are we talking minutes, hours, days??

I'm excited too and that's a very good question. I cannot sit there for hours eating Mars donuts while I wait for the code to show up. 

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thebruce0

+thebruce0

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I'm hoping one of the first photos sent back for confirmation will be the calibration photos with the code. But since the SHERLOC is on an extending arm, I'm thinking there's a chance it may not be during the main event. 

I think more important is when HQ decides to unlock the TB for discovery logging....

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Hidden Legends

+Hidden Legends

Posted
Posted

Wow, perseverance has landed and so chances are that the TB-Listing will be opened for logging in the next hours (which could sum up to days or even weeks?). But thats not the point. THE POINT IS we can log a travelbug sooner or later because it has landed. It is on Mars!

Thank you for this experience so far!

Best wishes for the mission from Germany!

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