Launch Date Set For Final Space Shuttle Flight

Image Credit: NASA

NASA's final space shuttle flight is targeted to launch on July 8 at about 11:40 am EDT (16.40 GMT) from the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Mission STS-135 for the Space Shuttle Atlantis will deliver supplies and essential spares to the International Space Station.

The 12-day mission also will deliver an experiment designed to test the tools, technologies and techniques needed to robotically refuel satellites. Chris Ferguson, a veteran of two previous shuttle missions, will command Atlantis with Doug Hurley as pilot.  Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim have been named as the mission specialists.

STS-135 will be Atlantis' 33rd mission and the 37th shuttle flight dedicated to International Space Station assembly and maintenance. It will be the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program.