Atlantis Crew's 15-Year Reunion
Final NASA Space Shuttle Atlantis Crew Reunites 15 Years Later to Reflect on Last Mission
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Fifteen years after Space Shuttle Atlantis made its final landing, the four-person crew of mission STS-135 reunited at Kennedy Space Center to mark the anniversary. They gathered beneath the orbiter itself, now on permanent display, to reflect on the flight that closed 30 years of Space Shuttle history Florida Today.
The July 2011 mission was the 135th and last shuttle flight. The crew described Atlantis as performing nearly flawlessly on what became an emotional farewell to an era Palm Beach Post.
A Final Mission That Almost Did Not Happen
STS-135 was not always guaranteed to fly. NASA added the mission late in the program to deliver a final load of supplies to the International Space Station. The four-person crew — commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Douglas Hurley, and mission specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim — launched on July 8, 2011 Herald Tribune.
The crew carried roughly 9,400 pounds of cargo to the station. That made the transfer process, as crew members recalled, chaotic and physically demanding. Every pound counted, since it would be the last shuttle resupply run Tallahassee.com.
A Startling Alarm and Nearly Flawless Performance
The crew shared one standout moment of tension during the mission: a master alarm that suddenly sounded on the flight deck. Master alarms on a spacecraft demand immediate attention. The crew said the alarm turned out to be a false alert, but it gave everyone a jolt News-Press.
Beyond that scare, the crew said Atlantis performed exceptionally well. The orbiter landed at Kennedy Space Center on July 21, 2011, after 13 days in space. Ferguson called the shuttle's final performance a source of pride for everyone who built and flew it TC Palm.
Pilot Hurley Later Led America's SpaceX Return to Space
After STS-135, the crew moved into new roles across the space industry. Pilot Douglas Hurley went on to make history again. In May 2020, he commanded Demo-2, the first crewed flight of SpaceX's Dragon capsule. That mission also launched from Kennedy Space Center Jacksonville.com.
Hurley's two landmark flights — the last shuttle mission and the first commercial crewed mission — bookended a defining transition in American spaceflight. He retired from NASA shortly after the SpaceX flight NWF Daily News.
Standing Beneath Atlantis, Crew Honors a 30-Year Legacy
The reunion took place inside the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, where Atlantis is now displayed dramatically tilted at 43.21 degrees with its payload bay open. The crew stood beneath the orbiter they once flew, now frozen in time as a museum exhibit The Ledger.
The astronauts said seeing Atlantis on display still stirs deep emotion. The shuttle program flew 135 missions over 30 years, carrying 355 people to space. The crew said they hope the orbiter continues to inspire the next generation of space explorers News-Journal Online.
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