The shuttle’s primary payload was an Italian-built cargo hauler named Raffaello, which was loaded with 3,920 kg of food, clothing, supplies and science equipment for the space station.One spacewalk took place during Atlantis’s mission, although it was conducted by NASA’s two resident space station astronauts, rather than the shuttle crew. Only four astronauts flew on the mission, instead of the usual six or seven, to accommodate the smaller Russian capsules the crew would use if Atlantis was too damaged to return to Earth. The shuttle carried a technology demonstration project to test how a robot can refuel and service satellites in orbit.The two-year experiment using the station’s Dextre robotwas to begin after the shuttle left. Among the tonnes of old equipment and trash coming back from the station on the shuttle was a broken ammonia cooling system. Engineers want to take it apart and figure out why it failed
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