07.15.11

10:30 p.m. CDT Friday, July 15, 2011
Mission Control Center, Houston, TexasSTATUS REPORT: STS-135-16

STS-135 MCC STATUS REPORT #16

HOUSTON – The crew of the final space shuttle mission woke up today to
well wishes from a former neighbor of sorts.

“Good morning, Atlantis!” Houston native Beyonce Knowles said in a
prerecorded message for the STS-135 astronauts. “This is Beyonce.
Sandy, Chris, Doug and Rex, you inspire all of us to dare to live our
dreams, to know that we’re smart enough and strong enough to achieve
them.”

The message was preceded by Knowles’ song “Run the World (Girls),” and
before the singer wrapped up her greeting, she had a special shout
out for the crew’s female member, Mission Specialist Sandy Magnus.

“This song is especially for my girl, Sandy,” she said, “and all the
women who’ve taken us to space with them, and the girls who are our
future explorers.”

Magnus, along with Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and
Mission Specialist Rex Walheim are scheduled to spend more time today
filling the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module up for return to
Earth.

But as the list of items left to be packed grows shorter, they’ll be
branching out to other activities, picking up some station work and
performing spacesuit maintenance and even unpacking some of the cargo
they’ve delivered.

Ferguson and Hurley will also spend some time working to repair the
door that gives the crew access to the shuttle’s air revitalization
system. The latch on the door was reported by the crew to have broken
on Friday. The door is located in the floor of the shuttle’s middeck
and opened by the crew when they change out the lithium hydroxide
canisters that remove carbon dioxide from the shuttle’s atmosphere.

The next status report will be issued at the end of the crew’s day or
earlier if warranted. The crew is scheduled to go to sleep just
before 2 p.m. on Saturday.