CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Dressed in their bright-orange launch-and-entry suits, the final four astronauts to launch aboard a space shuttle wave to media and employees cheering them on in front of the Astronaut Crew Quarters in the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left, are STS-135 Mission Specialists Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Commander Chris Ferguson. The silver Astrovan will take the astronauts to Launch Pad 39A, where they will board space shuttle Atlantis for a scheduled liftoff at 11:26 a.m. EDT on July 8 for their mission to the International Space Station. STS-135 will deliver the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts for the orbiting outpost. Atlantis also will fly the Robotic Refueling Mission experiment that will investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing satellites in orbit. In addition, Atlantis will return with a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135 will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts135/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-2011-5205

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The STS-98 crew leaves the Operations and Checkout Building and heads for the “Astrovan” that will take them to Space Shuttle Atlantis on Launch Pad 39A. From left are Mission Specialists Robert Curbeam, Thomas Jones and Marsha Ivins, Pilot Mark Polansky and Commander Ken Cockrell. They will be flying the seventh construction flight to the International Space Station. Atlantis is carrying the U.S. Laboratory Destiny, a key module in the growth of the Space Station. Destiny will be attached to the Unity node on the Space Station using the Shuttle’s robotic arm. Three spacewalks are required to complete the planned construction work during the 11-day mission. Launch is targeted for 6:11 p.m. EST and the planned landing at KSC Feb. 18 about 1:39 p.m. This mission marks the seventh Shuttle flight to the Space Station, the 23rd flight of Atlantis and the 102nd flight overall in NASA’s Space Shuttle program KSC01pp0272

The STS-85 flight crew greets a crowd of well-wishers as they walk out of the Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building to board the Astrovan for their ride to Launch Pad 39A, where they will take their places aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. Waving to the crowd is Commander Curtis L. Brown, Jr.(right), followed by Payload Commander N. Jan Davis, Mission Specialist Robert L. Curbeam, Jr., Pilot Kent V. Rominger, Mission Specialist Stephen K. Robinson and Payload Specialist Bjarni V. Tryggvason. The primary payload aboard the Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery is the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet Satellite-2 (CRISTA-SPAS-2) free-flyer. Other payloads on the 11-day mission include the Manipulator Flight Demonstration (MFD), and Technology Applications and Science-1 (TAS-1) and International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker-2 (IEH-2) experiments KSC-97PC1200

SPACE SHUTTLE STS-135 CREW VISIT GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

41B-13-474 - STS-41B - Candid views of crewmember activities in the middeck

Lego "Build the Future" Activity (201104270002HQ)

STS-82 Mission Commander Kenneth D. Bowersox leads the way to the astronaut van as the crew departs from the Operations and Checkout Building en route to Launch Pad 39A, where the Space Shuttle Discovery awaits liftoff on a 10-day mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Directly behind him is Pilot Scott J. "Doc" Horowitz. The other five crew members, clockwise from left, are Mission Specialist Steven L. Smith, Payload Commander Mark C. Lee, and Mission Specialists Steven A. Hawley, Gregory J. Harbaugh and Joseph R. "Joe" Tanner KSC-97pc276

Kim Shiflett KSC-2011-5205

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Summary

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Dressed in their bright-orange launch-and-entry suits, the final four astronauts to launch aboard a space shuttle wave to media and employees cheering them on in front of the Astronaut Crew Quarters in the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left, are STS-135 Mission Specialists Rex Walheim and Sandy Magnus, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Commander Chris Ferguson. The silver Astrovan will take the astronauts to Launch Pad 39A, where they will board space shuttle Atlantis for a scheduled liftoff at 11:26 a.m. EDT on July 8 for their mission to the International Space Station. STS-135 will deliver the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts for the orbiting outpost. Atlantis also will fly the Robotic Refueling Mission experiment that will investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing satellites in orbit. In addition, Atlantis will return with a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135 will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts135/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Space Shuttle Program

The Space Shuttle program was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011, administered by NASA and officially beginning in 1972. The Space Shuttle system—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank— carried up to eight astronauts and up to 50,000 lb (23,000 kg) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its mission was complete, the orbiter would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and lands as a glider. Although the concept had been explored since the late 1960s, the program formally commenced in 1972 and was the focus of NASA's manned operations after the final Apollo and Skylab flights in the mid-1970s. It started with the launch of the first shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, on STS-1. and finished with its last mission, STS-135 flown by Atlantis, in July 2011.