EXPEDITION-5

Following the departure of Endeavour, Korzun, Whitson, and Treschev settled down to the start of their 4.5-month stay aboard ISS. On June 18, they observed and photographed wildfires in Arizona and Colorado. Whitson activated the StelSys Liver Cell Research experiment in the Biotechnology Specimen Temperature Controller (BSTC) on June 21. The experiment compared liver cell function in microgravity with that of similar cells grown on Earth. Processed samples were stored in the Arctic-1 freezer for return to Earth on STS-112. When the experiments were complete the BSTC was powered off.

Having installed a new hard drive in the Zeolite Crystal Growth experiment during their second week on orbit, Huntsville powered on the EXPRESS Rack 2 containing the experiment. The first sample runs were commenced on June 27. All three astronauts completed their first Crew Interactions Questionnaire on June 25, while Korzun and Treschev also completed a running experiment on the station treadmill that required them to take close-up high-definition video of their facial features while running.

The crew also filled the docked Progress with rubbish, in preparation for its departure. The undocking of Progress M1-8, from Zvezda’s wake, took place at 04: 23, June 25, and the spacecraft re-entered the atmosphere and burned up as planned.