Alfredo (he/him) has a PhD in Astrophysics on galaxy evolution and a Master's in Quantum Fields and Fundamental Forces.
Senior Staff Writer & Space Correspondent
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The interior of the Orion Capsule. Image Credit: NASA
Take a really good look at this picture. You’re seeing the inside of the Orion Capsule. But don’t just focus on the cool equipment, including a virtual assistant in the center – NASA has placed several easter eggs around the capsule for everyone to solve.
The space agency doesn’t specify how many things are there to find, so we had to do the sleuthing ourselves too (and we might have missed something). We also don’t have solutions just yet, just guesswork that might be more or less reasonable when it comes to their actual meaning. NASA will announce the list of puzzles and their solutions on December 10, just a day before Orion splash lands into the Pacific.
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You can find the full-resolution image of the capsule on NASA's Flickr, and below is what we have found!
SPOILERS AFTER THE PHOTO
Full version of the capsule photograph. Image Credit: NASA
Dots and dashes in the center of the image – This is morse code and should be read as -.-./…./.-/.-./.-../../. and it translates to Charlie - likely a reference to Charlie Brown as Snoopy visible near the US flag is the mission mascot and microgravity indicator.
Post-It Note with Dashes And Letters – The post-it note says CBAGF and it has three equal size dashes above the first three letters, then a short above G, and the longest one above F. It is musical notation – the first five notes of “Fly Me To The Moon” written by Bart Howard for his partner of 58 years, Thomas Fowler.
Red(?) Bird Sticker – We think that this is an eagle, a reference to the Eagle, the Lunar Module that took Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the surface of the Moon. "The Eagle has landed," Armstrong told NASA on July 20, 1969.
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Number series on the wall above Snoopy – One can read this peculiar sequence. On the first line is 1, 31, 32, 33, 34, 39. On the following line starting underneath 31, there is 41, 45, 46, 47, 49. This has stumped us. We considered the possible coordinates for the reentry of Orion but this is a bit too north and a bit too west.
Do you have an answer for these last two? Have you spotted others? Share your ideas and let us know!
