KSC-2011-6155

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In Orbiter Processing Facility-2 (OPF-2) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, doors begin to close around the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module after it was secured in the payload canister. A special payload removal device was used to remove it from Atlantis’ cargo bay. Raffaello will then be readied for transport to the Space Station Processing Facility where its contents will be unloaded. Atlantis completed NASA’s final space shuttle mission, STS-135, after landing at the center’s Shuttle Landing Facility, July 21, 2011, at 5:57 a.m. EDT. Following removal of all payloads in Atlantis’ cargo bay, workers will begin to prepare the spacecraft for eventual permanent display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Photo credit: Jim Grossman