KSC-2011-5053

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Firing Room 4 in the Launch Control Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, launch team members took their posts at about 12:30 p.m. EDT, July 5 to prepare for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-135 mission to the International Space Station. The countdown clock began ticking backward from the T-43 hour mark at 1 p.m. Atlantis and its crew of four are scheduled to lift off at 11:26 a.m. EDT on July 8 to deliver the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts to the 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/Frankie Martin