STS-134 Fact Sheet

By Cliff Lethbridge

STS-134 – Endeavour

134th Space Shuttle Mission

25th Flight of Endeavour

Crew:

Mark E. Kelly, Commander

Gregory H. Johnson, Pilot

Michael Fincke, Mission Specialist

Roberto Vittori, Mission Specialist

Andrew J. Feustel, Mission Specialist

Gregory Chamitoff, Mission Specialist

Orbiter Preparations:

Rollout to Launch Pad 39A – March 10, 2011

Launch:

May 16, 2011 – 8:56:28 a.m. EDT. Launch attempt on April 29, 2011 was scrubbed due to a heater failure on one of Endeavour’s Auxiliary Power Units. Launch on May 16, 2011 occurred on time with no delays.

Landing:

June 1, 2011 – 2:35 a.m. EDT at Runway 33, Kennedy Space Center. Mission duration was 15 days, 17 hours, 38 minutes, 51 seconds.

Mission Summary:

STS-134 marked the final flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour. Primary payload was the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2, attached to the International Space Station (ISS) S3 Truss Segment. The device is designed to search for antimatter and investigate the origin of dark matter. Secondary payloads included the Express Logistics Carrier-3, which carried several experiments to be housed outside the ISS.

Docking to ISS occurred on May 18, 2011. Undocking occurred on May 30, 2011. There were four spacewalks during the mission. The first spacewalk was conducted on May 20, 2011 and lasted 6 hours, 19 minutes. Astronauts Feustel and Chamitoff switched out experiments on the Express Logistics Carrier-2 outside the ISS, as well as other activities.

The second spacewalk was conducted on May 22, 2011 and lasted 8 hours, 7 minutes. Astronauts Feustel and Fincke refilled radiators with ammonia, lubricated a rotary joint on the Dextre robotic arm and installed grapple bars on the ISS port radiators. The third spacewalk was conducted on May 25, 2011 and lasted 6 hours, 54 minutes. Astronauts Feustel and Fincke installed a grapple fixture on the Zarya Module to be used by the Canadarm-2 robotic arm. They also installed cables to provide back-up power to the Russian portion of ISS and installed a wireless video system outside ISS.

The fourth spacewalk of the mission was conducted on May 27, 2011 and lasted 7 hours, 24 minutes. Astronauts Fincke and Chamitoff stowed Endeavour’s 50-foot Orbiter Boom Sensing System on a permanent stowage fixture outside ISS. They also released restraints from a spare arm for the Dextre robotic arm and replaced insulation on a spare gas tank for the Quest airlock. The conclusion of this spacewalk marked the completion of construction of the U.S. portion of ISS.

Following landing, Endeavour was retired and prepared for delivery to its permanent home at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.