1990 NASA STS-41 Discovery Space Shuttle Solar Polar Mission Ulysses Bronze Coin

Vintage 1990 NASA STS-41 Discovery Space Shuttle Solar Polar Mission Ulysses Bronze Coin Astronauts; Melnick, Shepherd, Akers, Cabana & Richards Launched Oct. 6th & landed on October 10, 1990, the Space Shuttle Discovery landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California, completing the STS-41 mission. The mission's primary objective was to launch the Ulysses probe as part of the International Solar Polar Mission STS-41 CREW INSIGNIA - The STS-41 crew insignia, designed by the five astronaut crewmembers, depicts the Space Shuttle orbiting Earth after deployment of its primary payload -the Ulysses satellite. The orbiter is shown passing over the southeastern United States, representative of its 28-degree inclination orbit. Ulysses, the Solar Exploration Satellite, will be the fastest man-made object in the universe, travelling at 30 miles per second (over 100,000 mph) and is represented by the streaking silver teardrop passing over the sun. Ulysses' path is depicted by the bright red spiral originating from the Shuttle cargo bay. The path will extend around Jupiter where Ulysses will receive a gravitational direction change that will put it in a polar trajectory around the sun. The three-legged trajectory, extending out the payload bay, is symbolic of the astronaut logo and is in honor of those who have given their lives in the conquest of space.