page_title: STS-135
section_title: Crew
hierarchical_section_title: STS-135 / Crew
caption_attribution_description: English: Stephen Colbert, host of The Colbert Report, salutes the crew of STS-135 during their appearance for a taping of his television show in New York. The astronauts from STS-135 are in New York for a three-day visit. Seated from lower left are Commander Chris Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley, and mission specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim.
context_page_description: STS-135 was the 135th and final mission of the American Space Shuttle program. It used the orbiter Atlantis and hardware originally processed for the STS-335 contingency mission, which was not flown. STS-135 launched on 8 July 2011, and landed on 21 July 2011, following a one-day mission extension. The four-person crew was the smallest of any shuttle mission since STS-6 in April 1983. The mission's primary cargo was the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello and a Lightweight Multi-Purpose Carrier, which were delivered to the International Space Station. The flight of Raffaello marked the only time that Atlantis carried an MPLM.
  Although the mission was authorised, it initially had no appropriation in the NASA budget, raising questions about whether the mission would fly. On 20 January 2011, program managers changed STS-335 to STS-135 on the flight manifest. This allowed for training and other mission specific preparations. On 13 February 2011, program managers told their workforce that STS-135 would fly regardless of the funding situation via a continuing resolution.
context_section_description: NASA announced the STS-335/135 crew on 14 September 2010. Only four astronauts were assigned to this mission, versus the normal six or seven, because there were no other shuttles available for a rescue following the retirement of Discovery and Endeavour. If the shuttle was seriously damaged in orbit, the crew would have moved into the International Space Station and returned in Russian Soyuz capsules, one at a time, over the course of a year. All STS-135 crew members were custom-fitted for a Russian Sokol space suit and molded Soyuz seat liner for this possibility. The reduced crew size also allowed the mission to maximize the payload carried to the ISS. It was the only time that a Shuttle crew of four flew to the ISS. The last shuttle mission to fly with just four crew members occurred 28 years earlier: STS-6 on 4 April 1983 aboard Space Shuttle Challenger.
caption: Stephen Colbert, host of The Colbert Report, salutes the crew during their appearance for a taping of his television show.
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