July 11, 2011 - Final Launch of the Space Shuttle Program Includes Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield Training

The query contains a couple of inaccuracies you'll want to know about. Space Shuttle Atlantis actually launched on July 8, 2011, not July 11. The STS-135 crew also didn't include Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield — it featured Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Douglas Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim. It was the smallest four-person shuttle crew since 1983. There's plenty more about this historic final mission worth discovering below.

Key Takeaways

• The final Space Shuttle mission, STS-135, launched July 8, 2011, not July 11, from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39A.
• Atlantis carried a four-person crew: Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Douglas Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim.
• Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield was not part of the STS-135 crew or documented in this mission's background information.
• STS-135 marked NASA's 135th and final shuttle mission, concluding 30 years of shuttle operations on July 21, 2011.
• The shuttle program enabled 355 astronaut flights before retirement, after which NASA relied on Russian Soyuz capsules for crew transport.

How the STS-135 Launch Unfolded on July 8, 2011?

The final launch of the Space Shuttle program began with months of meticulous preparation at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A. The crew arrived on July 4, and teams completed an extensive orbiter review on June 28.

The launch timeline hit its mark precisely at 11:29:03.9 EDT on July 8, 2011, as commentator George Diller declared liftoff before a crowd of nearly one million. You'd have heard his words echo: "The final liftoff of Atlantis – on the shoulders of the space shuttle, America will continue the dream."

Ascent milestones followed standard sequence: solid rocket boosters separated after two minutes and five seconds, and main engine cutoff occurred at 8 minutes and 24 seconds into flight, successfully inserting Atlantis into orbit. The mission carried only four crew members, the smallest crew size for any shuttle flight since STS-6 in April 1983.

The launch was captured in a striking photograph credited to NASA, taken from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, with a full resolution of 1280 x 840.

Who Were the Four Astronauts on Atlantis's Final Flight?

Four astronauts made history aboard Atlantis on STS-135, each a seasoned spaceflyer chosen deliberately for the final shuttle mission. Commander Ferguson led the crew with steady focus, coordinating activities across the 12-day mission.

Pilot Douglas Hurley executed critical rendezvous burns to align Atlantis with the International Space Station.

Mission Specialist Sandra Magnus contributed to the supply delivery operations that kept the station stocked.

Mission Specialist Rex Walheim, a self-described "frequent flyer" on Atlantis, was particularly the last crew member to strap in before the de-orbit burn, still putting on his helmet as plasma lit up the windows outside.

NASA selected only four astronauts because it couldn't launch a rescue mission, meaning any emergency would've required individual Soyuz capsule evacuations. Before the flight, Hurley had served as NASA Director of Operations at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City.

The countdown itself was far from smooth, halting with 31 seconds remaining due to a computer glitch that was resolved with less than a minute left before Atlantis would have missed its window to reach the ISS.

What the Raffaello Module Carried to the Space Station?

While Atlantis's four-person crew handled the mission's human element, the shuttle's payload bay told an equally important story. Raffaello, a 21-foot-long module weighing 4.5 tons empty, carried over 8,000 pounds of supplies, critical spares, and science experiments to the ISS. Loaded with 5 tons of cargo, it held enough provisions to sustain the station's six-person crew for roughly a year, bridging the gap before commercial resupply providers took over.

Once docked, crews transferred all upward cargo before repacking Raffaello with over 5,000 pounds of refuse, used equipment, and experiment results for return to Earth. This marked the module's fourth flight since 2001 and the last time any MPLM would ever deliver supplies to the orbiting laboratory. Among the return cargo was a failed heat exchanger, retrieved from the station and loaded into Raffaello for transport back to Earth. The STS-135 mission, crewed by commander Chris Ferguson along with Doug Hurley, Sandra Magnus, and Rex Walheim, represented NASA's 135th and final space shuttle mission with a planned duration of 12 days.

What Atlantis Delivered on Its Last Mission?

Atlantis carried an impressive haul on its final mission, delivering over 8,000 pounds of supplies, spare parts, and science experiments to the ISS inside the Raffaello module. You can think of this orbital resupply effort as the shuttle program's parting gift to the station's long-term sustainability. The crew completed the cargo transfer during their 12-day flight, ensuring the ISS had provisions to operate well into the post-shuttle era.

Space logistics didn't end there. Atlantis also returned over 5,000 pounds of refuse, used equipment, and experiment results back to Earth. Commander Chris Ferguson and his crew effectively ran a full supply exchange, maximizing every pound of available capacity. This final delivery represented careful planning to keep the station stocked without future shuttle support. On its previous mission, STS-132, Atlantis delivered the Russian Rassvet Mini-Research Module, which added critical docking and cargo capacity to the station. Prior to this final mission, Atlantis had been configured for Servicing Mission 4, during which its cargo bay housed a Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment Carrier among other key carrier systems used to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

Why the Final Landing Marked the End of an Era?

When Atlantis touched down at Kennedy Space Center at 5:57 a.m. EDT on July 21, 2011, you witnessed more than a landing — you saw 30 years of history close. Commander Chris Ferguson's words, "Mission complete, Houston," carried deep nostalgic symbolism, marking the end of 135 missions that transformed near-Earth orbit into a shared workplace.

The Space Shuttle Program's operational legacy is undeniable. It carried 355 astronauts and enabled the International Space Station's construction. Yet retirement was inevitable — high costs, safety concerns after Challenger and Columbia, and slow turnaround times made continuation unsustainable.

After landing, NASA lost domestic crew transport, becoming dependent on Russia. Shuttle facilities closed, jobs disappeared, and the agency entered a developmental gap — signaling a definitive shift toward humanity's next chapter in space. That gap would not close until Crew Dragon launched on May 30, 2020, when astronauts Hurley and Behnken finally restored crewed launches from American soil. The decision to retire the shuttles had actually been made back in 2004 after the devastating Columbia accident claimed the lives of its crew in 2003. Much like the Trinity Nuclear Test of 1945, which forever altered the course of human history through a single transformative event, the shuttle program's conclusion marked an undeniable turning point in how humanity approaches exploration and technological ambition.