Description
Geocaching is now an interplanetary game!
NASA’s Perseverance Rover, which landed on Mars on February 18, 2021, includes a trackable code, making Perseverance a geocaching game piece. The front of this geocoin is a replica of the unique glass disk that contains that tracking code: the rover’s calibration target. The first image of this target beamed back to Earth on March 17, 2021 when Perseverance “took a selfie” with one of its on-board cameras.
The instrument team who worked on these devices enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes theme so much that they embedded several other references. Do you know the significance of 221BBAKER? Can you understand those dancing people?
Just like the Mars Rover Perseverance, the Perseverance Calibration Geocoin is trackable at Geocaching.com.
This geocoin features a unique icon.
Dimensions: Approximately 2.165 inches (55 mm) in diameter.
SHERLOC = “Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals”
WATSON = “Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and engineering”
Looking to learn more?
Check out the official Geocaching Mars Rover Perseverance site here.
Learn more from NASA about this project here.
See more NASA images here.
