The final mission of Endeavour: a heavy payload and a commander's return

Space · Published 18 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In early 2011, Commander Mark Kelly returned to training at NASA's Johnson Space Center following a period of personal leave. His mission, STS-134, would not just be a routine flight, but the final chapter for the space shuttle Endeavour.

The STS-134 mission was a complex 16-day operation focused on the assembly and maintenance of the International Space Station. Launched on May 16, 2011, from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, the shuttle carried a significant scientific and logistical payload. This included the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS), a device designed to send data regarding cosmic particles back to researchers on Earth, as well as critical supplies such as a high-pressure gas tank, two communications antennas, and spare parts for the Dextre robot.

The crew, led by Commander Mark Kelly, included Pilot Greg H. Johnson and Mission Specialists Michael Fincke, Andrew Feustel, Greg Chamitoff, and Roberto Vittori. The mission was notable for its international scope, featuring Vittori, the final international astronaut to fly on the shuttle program. During the flight, the crew performed four spacewalks and successfully docked Endeavour with the station, uniting the shuttle crew with the Expedition 27 crew.

As the mission neared its end, the crew performed a test of the STORRM system—the Sensor Test for Orion Relative Navigation Risk Mitigation—with Kelly taking controls for an automated rendezvous and docking test. On June 1, 2011, Endeavour landed at the Kennedy Space Center, marking its 25th and final flight. Over its entire career, the shuttle orbited Earth 4,671 times and traveled over 122 million miles, concluding an era of space exploration.

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