NASA managers decided to add a shuttle flight

The decision still requires the approval of the Senate and the White House, both of which agree to it but differ on the funding. According to NASA's proposal, Atlantis will take off at the end of June 2011 for a logistics mission to the space station

While the final decision on the decision of a shuttle flight is in the hands of the politicians, NASA managers approved adding a flight - STS-135, provided that it would be safe, and would help with the logistics of the space station. If Congress gives final approval to fund one shuttle flight beyond the two currently on the agenda, the shuttle Atlantis will be launched on June 28, 2011.

On the STS-135 mission, if not required as a "rescue flight" for the STS-133 or STS-134 mission, only four crew members will be shared and it will carry a Multipurpose Logistics Module (MPLM) as well as a lighter cargo carrier to the International Space Station.

NASA's safety panel approved the addition of the flight from a safety perspective. A crew of four means that if it is necessary to stay on the space station, they can stay on the station and return to Earth in Soyuz spacecraft that are used as rescue boats and as a means of returning home, and NASA will not be required to keep another shuttle on standby for the rescue.

Originally, the Senate version of the 2011 NASA budget included a shuttle mission addition but not the White House version. However, later approval was given by the White House to mirror the Senate proposal. However, there are still differences regarding the question of which sections the funding for this additional flight will come from - hundreds of millions of dollars.

Atlantis was in any case scheduled for a rescue mission designated STS-335, and the final decision regarding STS-135 has not yet been made.

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