STS-135

Christopher Ferguson

• Birthday: 09/01/1961
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 09/09/2006
• Last Flight: 07/08/2011

Christopher J. Ferguson is a Boeing commercial astronaut and a retired United States Navy Captain and NASA astronaut. He was the pilot of Space Shuttle Atlantis on his first mission to space, STS-115, which launched on September 9, 2006 and returned to Earth on September 21, 2006. He then commanded STS-126 aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour. In 2011, he was assigned as commander of STS-135, which was the final mission of the space shuttle program.

On December 9, 2011, he retired from NASA and is now currently director of Crew and Mission Operations for Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program. In August 2018, Ferguson was assigned to the first test flight of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner.

Douglas G. Hurley

• Birthday: 10/21/1966
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 07/15/2009
• Last Flight: 05/30/2020

Douglas Gerald Hurley is an engineer and retired NASA astronaut. He piloted Space Shuttle mission STS-127, which launched July 15, 2009. He was assigned and flew as pilot for STS-135, the final flight of the Space Shuttle program, in July 2011. He is also the first Marine to fly the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet. His call sign is “Chunky” and was sometimes referred to by this name on the communication loops.

Rex J. Walheim

• Birthday: 10/10/1962
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 04/08/2002
• Last Flight: 07/08/2011

Rex Joseph Walheim is a retired United States Air Force officer, engineer and NASA astronaut. He flew three space shuttle missions, STS-110, STS-122, and STS-135. Walheim logged over 566 hours in space, including 36 hours and 23 minutes of spacewalk (EVA) time. He was assigned as mission specialist and flight engineer on STS-135, the final space shuttle mission.

Sandra Magnus

• Birthday: 10/30/1964
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 10/07/2002
• Last Flight: 07/08/2011

Sandra Hall Magnus is an American engineer and a former NASA astronaut. She returned to Earth with the crew of STS-119 Discovery on March 28, 2009, after having spent 134 days in orbit. She was assigned to the crew of STS-135, the final mission of the Space Shuttle. She is also a licensed amateur radio operator with the call sign KE5FYE.

STS-135

• Type: Human Exploration
• Orbit: Low Earth Orbit
• Launch Cost: $450,000,000

STS-135 delivered supplies and equipment to provision the space station through 2012, and is the final mission of the American Space Shuttle program. Payload included the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) Raffaello and the Lightweight Multi-Purpose Carrier (LMC)

Launch Complex 39A

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Launch Complex 39A has witnessed the launch of 186 rockets, including 185 orbital launch attempts, while Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA, has been the site for 244 rocket launches.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS). Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011.

United Space Alliance

United Space Alliance (USA) is a spaceflight operations company. USA is a joint venture which was established in August 1995 as a Limited Liability Company (LLC), equally owned by Boeing and Lockheed Martin.