The cupola, attached to the International Space Station’s Tranquility node, received a new Robotics Work Station (RWS) on Friday. Flight Engineers Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Soichi Noguchi detached the RWS from its original home inside the Destiny laboratory then installed it inside the cupola. The first major task for the RWS from the cupola will be in May when it will be used to install the Rassvet Mini Research Module-1 delivered by space shuttle Atlantis during STS-132.Expedition 23 Commander and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov downlinked live video and audio of the treadmill while it was operating inside the Zvezda service module. Kotov identified unusual sounds and motion coming from the treadmill and was working with ground controllers to see if there was a problem. Ground controllers determined everything was nominal but continued to analyze the issue.
With American and Russian spacecraft coming and going to the station over the next two months, the docked ISS Progress 36 supply craft fired its engines on Friday afternoon to raise the orbiting laboratory to the proper altitude.
The ISS Progress 35 undocked from the Pirs Docking Compartment on Thursday after being loaded with trash and other unneeded gear and equipment. The Progress will be used for scientific experiments until it is deorbited and burned up in the Earth's atmosphere next week.
