Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock and Flight Engineer Shannon Walker participated in experiments that study long-term exposure to microgravity’s effects on a crew member’s body. Wheelock collected biological samples for stowage inside the Human Research Facility – a science rack in the Destiny laboratory. Walker evaluated her diet and documented her sleep patterns to determine how the lack of an Earth-bound 24-hour cycle (circadian rhythm) affects crew performance.

The station crew members continue exercising daily to strengthen their muscles and bones to offset the effects of microgravity. They exercise each day on machines including a treadmill, a cycle ergometer and a device that uses resistance provided by a flywheel assembly that mimics free-weights on Earth and pistons inside vacuum cylinders.

Flight Engineer Fyodor Yurchikhin worked in the Russian segment of the International Space Station swapping mechanical gear and installing new software on computers. He also updated the station’s inventory management system.

Three new crew members in Baikonur, Kazakhstan are getting ready to join Expedition 25. The Soyuz TMA-01M vehicle they will ride in was mated over the weekend to the rocket that will launch it to the station on Thursday at 7:10 p.m. EDT. Flight Engineers Scott Kelly, Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka will join their new crewmates and dock to the orbiting laboratory Saturday at 8:02 p.m.

› View graphic of Soyuz TMA-01M at http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/485546main_Soyuz_TMA01-M.jpg
› View a gallery of Expedition 25 images at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/multimedia/gallery/index.html
› View a photo Wheelock posted to his Twitter account of the Soyuz that will bring him, Walker and Yurchikhin home at the end of November at http://twitpic.com/2sawal