The astronauts will deliver about 9,500 pounds (4,318 kilograms) of cargo to the station. Other shuttle missions over the years have typically carried six or seven spaceflyers, but NASA wanted to use every bit of available space to pack extra cargo on this last drop-off mission to the station. He's joined by pilot Doug Hurley and mission specialists Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus.
"People have taken it for granted I don't think its absence is going to be immediately felt." A skeleton crewĬommander Chris Ferguson is leading a skeleton crew of four on Atlantis' STS-135 flight. "For an entire generation who grew up with the space shuttle, this is a moment that won't be appreciated for some time to come," said space history expert Robert Pearlman, editor of and a contributor. The main goal of the shuttle's 12-day flight - Atlantis' 33rd mission after nearly 26 years of flying - is to deliver a year's worth of supplies and spare parts to the orbiting lab.īut the world's attention is fixed more on what Atlantis' last mission means than on what it will accomplish in orbit. The crew of Atlantis is ready to launch."Īfter 135 launches over 30 years, the space shuttle will never streak into the sky again.Ītlantis and its four-astronaut crew are headed for a rendezvous with the International Space Station.
"Let's light this shuttle one more time Mike and witness this nation at its best. We're not ending the journey today, we're completing a chapter of a journey that will never end," Atlantis' commander Chris Ferguson replied. "And so for the final time, Fergie, Doug, Sandy and Rex, good luck, Godspeed and have a little fun up there." "On behalf of the greatest team in the world, good luck to you and your crew on the final flight of this true American icon," shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach told the astronauts just before launch.
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