and their descriptions can be found in the Official Flight Kit. Mission background and milestones The mission marked: 163rd NASA crewed space flight 132nd shuttle mission since STS-1 32nd flight of Atlantis 34th shuttle mission to the ISS 11th flight of Atlantis to the ISS 3rd shuttle flight in 2010 107th post-Challenger mission 19th post-Columbia mission NASA arranged a Tweetup to cover the launch of the STS-132 mission. 150 people attended the event from more than 30 US states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Belgium, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The Tweetup participants met with shuttle technicians, managers, engineers and astronauts, took a tour of the Kennedy Space Center and viewed the launch of Atlantis. Mission experiments Atlantis crew worked with several short-term experiments during their mission. The shuttle transported new long-term experiments to the ISS. At the end of the mission, Atlantis returned some of the completed experiments from the ISS. Short-term experiments included: Micro-2: Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute sent microorganisms to investigate new ways of preventing the formation and spread of clusters of bacteria (biofilms), that could pose a threat to the health of astronauts. After the shuttle landed, the resulting biofilms were examined to see how their growth and development were impacted by microgravity. Hypersole: Hypersole is a Canadian research project that plans to investigate sudden changes in skin sensitivity experienced by some astronauts in space. The researchers hope to understand more about how the skin sensitivity of the soles of the feet affect the human balance. Three STS-132 crew members participated in identical trials before the launch and immediately upon landing. The trials were also repeated on five astronauts scheduled to fly on the STS-133 and STS-134 missions. Project findings are expected to add significant knowledge to existing studies of aging and to be beneficial for the elderly and people who suffer from balance problems. Shuttle Ionospheric Modification with Pulsed Localized Exhaust Experiments (SIMPLEX) – STS-132 crew performed the SIMPLEX burn on Flight Day 12. The experiment investigates plasma turbulence driven by shuttle exhaust in the ionosphere using ground-based radars. The processes by which chemical releases can produce plasma turbulence are quantified with the SIMPLEX measurements. Plasma turbulence can affect military navigation and communications using radio systems. Shuttle processing The mission's external tank, ET-136, began its , six-day journey across the Gulf of Mexico from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New