Orbital Simulator
by Justin Graham
Answer: PRESENT DAY
The nine songs played are nine songs NASA has sent to Space Shuttle missions as “wakeup calls” to wake up the astronauts. The missions match the numbers on the rockets. Using the NOAA site, you can find sunrise times for the cities provided on the date of the wakeup call (clued by the wakeup call theme and “first thing in the morning”). Ordering by sunrise time and taking the minute value yields the phrase NOW OR XMAS. Both could be described as PRESENT DAY
| Sunrise time | Location | Date | STS Mission | Wake up Song |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5:14 | Berlin | 7/23/01 | STS 104 | "Honey, I'm Home" by Shania Twain |
| 5:15 | Moscow | 5/17/97 | STS 84 | “Hold On, I’m Coming” by Sam and Dave |
| 5:23 | Tokyo | 9/15/95 | STS 69 | “He’s A Tramp” from the cartoon movie “Lady and the Tramp” |
| 6:15 | Buenos Aires | 10/13/00 | STS 92 | "Incense and Peppermints" by Strawberry Alarm Clock |
| 6:18 | Bangkok | 3/27/09 | STS 119 | "Bright Side of the Road" by Van Morrison |
| 6:24 | Jerusalem | 12/4/96 | STS 80 | “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by The Clash |
| 7:13 | Detroit | 2/26/11 | STS 133 | “Woody’s Roundup” performed by Riders in the Sky |
| 8:01 | Bismarck | 11/25/08 | STS 126 | “Fever” by Bandella |
| 8:19 | Stockholm | 12/2/97 | STS 87 | “Centerfield” by John Fogerty |