Space Shuttle Crew to Discuss Final Mission at NASA Ames

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – NASA’s space shuttle Atlantis astronauts will be available for interviews and to discuss their mission to the International Space Station — the flight that brought the illustrious Space Shuttle Program to a close — Monday, Aug. 22, 2011, in the Syvertson Auditorium, N-201, at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

The STS-135 mission crew members will be available for media interviews from 12:15 to 1 p.m. PDT. Reporters are then invited to view a crew presentation to NASA employees about their 13-day mission.

Reporters must contact Michael Mewhinney at michael.s.mewhinney@nasa.gov by 9 a.m., Monday, Aug. 22, to schedule an interview and attend the presentation. To reach Ames, take U.S. Highway 101 to the Moffett Field, NASA Parkway exit and drive east on Moffett Boulevard towards the main gate. Reporters must obtain a visitor pass from the Visitor Registration and Badge Office at the main gate.

Chris Ferguson commanded the STS-135 mission and was joined by fellow veteran astronauts Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim.

The STS-135 mission launched July 8, 2011, and landed July 21, 2011. It was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. In addition to carrying supplies to the space station, space shuttle Atlantis flew a system to study robotic spacecraft refueling and returned a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA improve pump designs for future systems.

This was Ferguson, Magnus and Walheim’s third spaceflight and Hurley’s second. Ferguson has logged more than 28 days in space; Magnus has logged more than four months in space and Walheim has logged more than 24 days in space including five spacewalks; Hurley has logged more than 4,000 hours in 25 different aircraft.

For more information about the STS-135 crew members and their mission, visit: http://go.usa.gov/KMk