A Heckuva Good Start... STS-135 Heads For The ISS | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.07.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.08.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.09.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-07.10.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.11.25

Sun, Jul 10, 2011

A Heckuva Good Start... STS-135 Heads For The ISS

STS-135, Report #01, 4 p.m. CDT Friday, July 8, 2011 

With a cargo carrier packed with supplies and equipment, Atlantis launched Friday morning to the International Space Station on the final space shuttle mission. The shuttle with its crew of four lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center on its 12-day flight at 10:29 a.m. CDT. Aboard are the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module and the Robotic Refueling Mission experiment, which could help develop ways to refuel satellites in orbit.


ANN's Jim Campbell was there for STS-1, as well, 
and can't believe such an amazing vehicle is being mothballed.

Nearly a million people came to the Kennedy area to see Atlantis lift off on a mission marking the end of the space shuttle era. The mission's focus was to leave the station as well supplied as possible to begin its post-shuttle existence. Atlantis also is scheduled to return a failed ammonia pump to Earth for examination - a task no other spacecraft can do.

Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim, are scheduled to rendezvous and dock with the station on Sunday. Raffaello is making its fourth trip to the station. On flight day 4 it will be lifted from the cargo bay and attached to the Harmony node. It will be unloaded there and subsequently loaded with station discards before it is returned to the cargo bay on flight day 10 for return to Earth.

The Robotic Refueling Mission experiment will be installed during the only spacewalk, by station crew members, while Atlantis is docked there. The experiment will test concepts, techniques and tools for robotically refueling satellites in orbit. The test will use the station's robotic capabilities, the first test in space of ways to refuel satellites, including those not designed for such servicing.

Aboard the station waiting to welcome Atlantis and its crew are Expedition 28 Commander Andrey Borisenko and Flight Engineers Alexander Samokutyaev, Ron Garan, Sergei Volkov, Mike Fossum and Satoshi Furukawa.

STS-135 is the 135th shuttle flight, the 33rd flight for Atlantis and the 37th shuttle mission dedicated to station assembly and maintenance.

FMI: www.nasa.gov

Advertisement

More News

NTSB Final Report: Aviat A1

Airplane Bounced About 3 Ft Then Touched Back Down And Then, With No Brakes Applied, The Airplane Began Veering To The Left Analysis: The pilot entered the airport traffic pattern >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (07.08.25)

Aero Linx: British Microlight Aircraft Association (BMAA) The primary focus within all aviation activity is SAFETY. In all aspects of our sport SAFETY must come first, whether it b>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Fly Corvair’s Reliable Engine Alternative

From SnF25 (YouTube Edition): William Wynne Builds Practical Aircraft Engines on the Corvair Platform Seeking an affordable alternative to the traditional aircraft engine options, >[...]

ANN FAQ: Contributing To Aero-TV

How To Get A Story On Aero-TV News/Feature Programming How do I submit a story idea or lead to Aero-TV? If you would like to submit a story idea or lead, please contact Jim Campbel>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: CiES Fuel-Quantity and e-Throttle Systems Praised

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): Bridge of CiES CiES Inc. is a Bend, Oregon-based designer and manufacturer of modular embedded aircraft systems and sensors. The company’s fuel-l>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC