STS-135 was the 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 and was originally scheduled to land on 20 July 2011, but the mission was extended to 21 July 2011. 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. The flight of Raffaello marked the only time that Atlantis carried an MPLM.