The ISS Progress 38 cargo craft currently docked with the International Space Station will undock from the aft end of the Zvezda service module on Tuesday. Progress 38 will be deorbited and re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere on Sept. 6. The Expedition 24 crew members have been loading the Progress 38 with trash and other discarded items for disposal and burn up over the Pacific Ocean. The unmanned Progress 39 cargo craft will automatically dock and resupply the station crew on Sept. 10.

The six-member crew has resumed normal science and maintenance activities since completing the replacement of a failed ammonia pump module on Aug. 16.

Flight Engineers Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Doug Wheelock worked with the SpaceDRUMS experiment hardware located inside the Kibo laboratory module. The purpose of SpaceDRUMS (Space Dynamically Responding Ultrasonic Matrix System) is to assist with the development of advanced, high quality materials for commercial benefits on Earth. The space-based experiment could be used to develop manufacturing processes for stronger replacement bones, better noise reduction devices and advanced tool parts.

Flight Engineer Shannon Walker continued working with the Integrated Cardiovascular experiment. This experiment studies the performance of a crew member’s heart during and after a long-term mission in microgravity.

Commander Alexander Skvortsov and Flight Engineers Mikhail Kornienko and Fyodor Yurchikin continued their maintenance activities in the Russian segment of the orbiting laboratory. The trio worked on exercise gear, replaced air filters and collected air samples.

› ISS MCB June 24, 2010 Meeting Joint Statement at http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/470591main_mcb_joint_statement_071410.pdf
› Read more about Expedition 24 at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition24/index...
› View crew timelines at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/timelines/08_2010_tl.html