The total mission elapsed time - 18 years, 8 months, 23 days, 12 hours, 12 minutes and 44 seconds - is noted on a small display plaque included with the Lego Ulysses set in the same style as those for the Hubble and shuttle that come with the Discovery set.įollow (opens in new tab) on Facebook (opens in new tab) and on Twitter at collectSPACE (opens in new tab).
Over the course of its observations, the probe collected data showing that the solar wind weakens over time, that the sun's magnetic field reverses direction every 11 years and that the solar magnetic field at the poles is weaker than previously known.ĭuring its extended mission, Ulysses also encountered three comets and passed through their tails.Ĭontact with the Ulysses probe was lost on June 30, 2009, after the spacecraft had operated for more than four times its design life. The first mission to survey the space environment above and below the poles of the sun, the Ulysses probe was a joint project by NASA and ESA. The boost provided by the IUS and PAM-S accelerated Ulysses to about 10 miles per second (15.4 kilometers per second), making it the fastest human-made object launched from Earth until the Pluto-bound New Horizons probe in January 2006. Lifting off with the STS-41 crew on board Discovery, the Ulysses probe was deployed from the shuttle's payload bay six hours into the four-day mission. Originally targeted for 1983, a number of delays, including the loss of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986, resulted in the spacecraft not leaving Earth until Oct. The real Ulysses probe, which studied the sun from 1994 to 2009, was also late to launch. If designed to the same scale as the 1:70th orbiter, the Ulysses should be able to fit into Discovery's payload bay (opens in new tab), offering a second "mission" for the orbiter after the Hubble Space Telescope included with the Discovery set. Originally scheduled for release with the NASA Space Shuttle Discovery set (opens in new tab) that went on sale on April 1, Lego delayed the Ulysses probe reward due to an unstated issue. This VIP promotion is subject to availability and only on offer while supplies last.Based on a published photo of the assembled kit, the Lego Ulysses will include the solar probe, as well as the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) and Payload Assist Module-S (PAM-S) that were attached to the sun-bound spacecraft when it was deployed from the space shuttle Discovery and were used to boost it out of Earth orbit toward Jupiter for a gravity-assist to circle the sun.
You can only use one promotional code per order. The code is valid for 60 days and must be entered during checkout in the field labeled “Enter Promo Code”. You’ll get a promotional code for the reward, which you can redeem with your next purchase on. We only have a limited number available, so if you already got one in 2021, you will not be able to redeem points for it this time. We’ve brought it back this year for VIP members who couldn’t get one the first time around. In 2021, we celebrated the launch of the new NASA Space Shuttle Discovery with this special set. United States and Canada: 17th May 09:00am EDT.Australian and New Zealand: 17th May 09:00am AEST / 11:00am NZST.The times for each region vary and are listed below. LEGO has announced that the VIP Exclusive set will be bringing the promotion from the 17th May. Cast you minds back to last year when you could grab the LEGO Ulysses Space Probe set via the VIP Rewards Centre, it was quite popular and sold out extremely fast, picture it? Well there’s good news for fans that missed out, it’s coming back!