NASA Prepares for Last Shuttle Mission Launch July 8

29 June 2011

Crew of the final shuttle mission, from left: Mission Specialist Rex Walheim, Pilot Doug Hurley, Commander Chris Ferguson, Mission Specialist Sandra Magnus

The shuttle crew get to know the inside of the Raffaello module where the supplies are stored for their trip to the space station.

The cargo is being loaded, the astronauts are getting physical examinations and NASA is counting the final days before the July 8 launch of the final space shuttle mission in the 30-year-old program.

In a daylong meeting June 28, NASA officials pored over every detail of the mission — known as STS-135 (STS stands for space transportation system) — and confirmed readiness for a July 8 launch. While that review was under way, technicians were at work on the launch pad, securing the cargo, which is a critical element of the mission.

Over its 25-year career, the space shuttle has served as a delivery truck, carrying pieces of the space station into orbit for installation. This flight marks the final time that truck is able to make a delivery, so shuttle Atlantis will be carrying a variety of supplies and spare parts for stocking up the shelves of the station. One job for the STS-135 crew will be to conduct tests to determine whether it’s possible to use robots to refuel existing spacecraft.

Another job NASA scientists have assigned to these astronauts will be to test a new method for recycling “used” water in microgravity. They’ll be trying to make a fortified drink that provides hydration and nutrients, tapping all sources available aboard a spacecraft, including wastewater and urine. The STS-135 crew will test a process known as forward osmosis.

“Forward osmosis is the natural diffusion of water through a semipermeable membrane,” explained Michael Flynn, a NASA research scientist. “The membrane acts as a barrier that allows small molecules, such as water, to pass through while blocking larger molecules like salts, sugars, starches, proteins, viruses, bacteria and parasites."

This process is well-known and used in a number of contexts back here on Earth: by hikers using a water source of unknown safety, or in disaster situations when standard water purification technology isn’t working. But will the process work in the same way in microgravity? What kind of adaptation might be needed for space travel? In the final days of this 12-day mission, the STS-135 crew will be looking for those answers. If their experiments lead to design of a method that works well and thoroughly, NASA scientists envision that the technology could be used in spacesuits when astronauts are on a spacewalk in the future, as an emergency backup water source on spacecraft or as a routine water source during future long-term space exploration.

The fourth of the shuttles to be built, Atlantis will deliver the grand finale for the shuttle program. Atlantis first went up in 1985 and is being readied for its 33rd blast into orbit on the 135th mission of the shuttle program, which has dominated U.S. activity in space since it began. The four-person crew aboard will be among the 355 individuals who have made journeys into space on these craft, representing 16 countries. The countries are Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States.