NASA STS-131 Status Report #25 11:30 p.m. CDT Friday, April 16, 2010

Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

HOUSTON – The crews of Discovery and the International Space Station will part company Saturday morning wrapping up a mission that brought 7.6 tons of supplies and equipment to the station, including a new crew sleeping quarters, a new ammonia tank, a new gyroscope and four experiment racks.

The shuttle crew was awakened at 11:21 p.m. CDT to the strains of “Joy” performed by the Newsboys. The song was selected for Pilot James P. Dutton Jr., who will fly Discovery around the station so crew members can document the station’s exterior condition. A test pilot for the U.S. Air Force who has flown more than 30 aircraft, this was Dutton’s first spaceflight.

The crews will bid one another farewell and close the hatches at 4:56 a.m. The docking latches will open at 7:52 a.m. allowing Discovery to drift free. Dutton will then guide Discovery on a fly-around of the station at a distance of 400 feet, with final separation from the orbiting outpost at 9:35 a.m.

The first landing opportunity at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is at 7:48 a.m. on Monday.

Discovery’s crew is scheduled for sleep at 3:21 p.m. The next shuttle status report will be issued after the crew’s work day ends, or earlier if events warrant.