KSC-2011-4707

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The STS-135 crew members gather at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A in Florida for a question-and-answer session with media. With the microphone in hand is Commander Chris Ferguson as Pilot Doug Hurley, Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim look on. Space shuttle Atlantis' astronauts are at Kennedy to participate in a launch countdown dress rehearsal called the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) and related training. Atlantis and its crew are targeted to lift off July 8, taking with them the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station. The STS-135 mission also will fly a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing satellites and return 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