Countdown begins to LEGO 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery liftoff

It’s t-minus five hours and counting until liftoff for LEGO 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery, which is set to launch from Billund later tonight.

At this point in the countdown for the real-life space shuttle, the orbiter’s fuel cells would be prepped and ready to go, all personnel would have cleared the launch pad, and the external tank would be filled with liquid hydrogen and oxygen propellants.

The last few hours before 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery takes off might not be quite so dramatic, but given how quickly sets tend to sell out these days, there’s still a tangible sense of anticipation. If real-world space exploration is your thing, you won’t want to miss out on this one.

As noted on the set’s landing page at LEGO.com, it’s due to go live at 1am Central European Summer Time on April 1. That’s midnight UK time, and five hours from when this story goes live. It’s also a departure from the LEGO Group’s usual launch time for new sets, which – as it did with 10295 Porsche 911 – typically happens at midnight CET, and therefore 11pm UK time.

That’s an extra hour of sleep lost tonight for European fans, then, but it also means there’s no chance of the set selling out in the UK the day before it launches – a headline the LEGO Group is probably keen to avoid.

In any case, set your alarm clocks for midnight if you want to build 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery as soon as possible. After all, there’s no guarantee it won’t immediately go on back order (or even temporarily sell out), as has happened to so many recent LEGO releases.

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