Launch from Cape Canaveral (KSC); landing at Cape Canaveral (KSC); ISS ULF-7 MPLM Raffaello.

Main goals of the mission are: Delivering the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module (MPLM) filled with supplies and spare parts to sustain station operations once the shuttles are retired, transport of the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM), an experiment designed to demonstrate and test the tools, technologies and techniques needed to robotically refuel satellites in space, even satellites not designed to be serviced. Returning of an ammonia pump that recently failed on the station. Engineers want to understand why the pump failed and improve designs for future spacecraft. This is the final flight for shuttle Atlantis and the Space Shuttle Program.

Following a two day solo flight Atlantis docked to the ISS on July 10, 2011. Joint operations with the ISS expedition 28 were performed.

On flight day 4 working at the International Space Station’s cupola robotic workstation, Atlantis Pilot Douglas Hurley and Mission Specialist Sandra Magnus used Canadarm2 to grapple the 12.5-ton, 21 foot long, 15 foot wide Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module, which was nestled in the shuttle cargo bay. They lifted Raffaello out and attached it to the Earth-facing port of the station's Harmony node.
Raffaello is packed with more than 8,000 pounds of spare parts, spare equipment, food and other supplies that will sustain space station operations through 2012. Raffaello carries eight Resupply Stowage Platforms (RSPs), two Intermediate Stowage Platforms (ISPs), six Resupply Stowage Racks (RSRs) and one Zero Stowage Rack.

While the docking of Atlantis an EVA by ISS expedition 28 crew members Michael Fossum and Ronald Garan was performed on July 12, 2011 (6h 31m). Mail goals of this spacewalk were: transfer of a failed ammonia pump to the shuttle cargo bay, transfer of the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) to the station and place an experiment on ELC-2 for long-duration exposure.

Space Shuttle Atlantis carried a miniaturised satellite also known as PSSC-2, or Picosatellite Solar Cell Testbed 2 into orbit. PSSC-2 was successfully deployed from the shuttle's cargo bay on flight day 13.

This mission is the third flight of the TriDAR sensor package designated DTO-701A (Detailed Test Objective), a 3D dual-sensing laser camera, intended for potential use as an autonomous rendezvous and docking sensor. It was developed by Neptec Design Group and funded by NASA and the Canadian Space Agency. Previously TriDAR was flown twice on STS-128 and STS-131, aboard Space Shuttle Discovery. TriDAR provides guidance information that can be used for rendezvous and docking operations in orbit, planetary landings and vehicle inspection/navigation of unmanned rovers. TriDAR does not rely on any reference markers, such as reflectors, positioned on the target spacecraft. To achieve this, it relies on a laser based 3D sensor and a thermal imager. Geometric information contained in successive 3D images is matched against the known shape of the target object to calculate its position and orientation in real-time.