Raffaello Returned to Atlantis’ Payload Bay

Driving Canadarm2 from the robotic workstation inside the International Space Station’s cupola, Sandy Magnus and Doug Hurley grabbed the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module at 6:09 a.m. EDT. They detached it from the station’s Harmony node at 6:46 a.m. and placed it back in space shuttle Atlantis’ cargo bay at 7:48 a.m.

The 21-foot-long, 15-foot-diameter Raffaello is filled with nearly 5,700 pounds of unneeded materials from the station that will be brought back to Earth. Over nearly eight days, crews aboard the shuttle and station unloaded 9,403 pounds of spare parts, spare equipment and other supplies from Raffaello – including 2,677 pounds of food – that will sustain space station operations for the next year.

Today’s Mission Status Briefing with STS-135 Lead Shuttle Flight Director Kwatsi Alibaruho will be live on NASA Television at 8 a.m.

Atlantis and station Expedition 28 crew members will say farewells and close hatches between the spacecraft at 9:19 a.m.