STS-135

Occurred 14 years ago

Space Shuttle Atlantis completed STS-135, its 33rd and final mission landing on Runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility on the morning of Thursday, July 21, 2011. It was the 20th night landing at KSC (78 total) and 26th night landing in the history of the Space Shuttle Program.

Space Shuttle

Atlantis

mission duration

12 days, 18 hours, 27 minutes, 56 seconds

Launch

July 8, 2011

Landing

July 21, 2011

Four astronauts from STS-135 smile and wear their space flight suits.

Attired in training versions of their shuttle launch and entry suits, these four astronauts took a break from training to pose for the STS-135 crew portrait. Pictured are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson (center right), commander; Doug Hurley (center left), pilot; Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus, both mission specialists. (11 Feb. 2011)

NASA

Mission Facts

Mission: STS-135 carried the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module to deliver supplies, logistics and spare parts to the International Space Station

Primary Payload: 37th station flight (ULF7), multi-purpose logistics module (MPLM)
Space Shuttle: Atlantis
Launch Pad: 39A
Launch Weight: 266,090 pounds
Launched: July 8, 2011 at 11:29 a.m. EDT
Landing Site: Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Landing: July 21, 2011 at 5:57 a.m. EDT
Landing Weight: 226,375 pounds
Inclination/Altitude: 52.6 degrees/122 nautical miles
Mission Duration: 12 days, 18 hours, 28 minutes, 50 seconds
Miles Traveled: 5.2 million

Crew:

Christopher Ferguson, Commander

Douglas Hurley, Pilot

Sandra Magnus, Mission Specialist

Rex Walheim, Mission Specialist

Mission Highlights

It was a hot July day on Florida’s Space Coast as nearly a million spectators gathered along the beaches, rivers and causeways to watch history in the making. Despite a gloomy prelaunch weather forecast on July 8, 2011, space shuttle Atlantis thundered off Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 11:29 a.m. EDT. The liftoff marked the last time a space shuttle would pierce the sky after 30 years of flights.

Heading toward the International Space Station, aboard Atlantis was a team of experienced astronauts led by Commander Chris Ferguson. Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim rounded out the STS-135 crew.

The 13-day mission carried more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, spare equipment and other supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module, including 2,677 pounds of food. The supplies were delivered to sustain space station operations for the next year. The 21-foot long, 15-foot diameter Raffaello brought back nearly 5,700 pounds of unneeded materials from the station.

With the mission accomplished, Atlantis and crew departed the orbiting laboratory and headed home early on July 21, setting their sites on a 5:57 a.m. touch down in Florida on Shuttle Landing Facility Runway 15. The end of their journey brought to a close the space shuttle era.

“Although we got to take the ride,” said Commander Chris Ferguson after landing, “we sure hope that everybody who has ever worked on, or touched, or looked at, or envied or admired a space shuttle was able to take just a little part of the journey with us.”

Featured Story