SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

*Science, Maintenance Continue; Final Preps for Expedition 16* 20 SEPTEMBER 2007

Image above: European Space Agency astronaut and Expedition 14 flight engineer Thomas Reiter works with the SWAB experiment. Credit: NASA

Flight Engineer Clay Anderson this week has been evaluating samples of microorganisms on the International Space Station. The samples are part of a year-long experiment called Surface, Water and Air Bio-characterization, or SWAB. The SWAB experiment, which ends this month, seeks to describe the types of microorganisms that live on the station and determine which are beneficial, neutral or harmful.

+ Read more about the SWAB experiment http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/swab.html

In other station activities, Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov are performing routine maintenance on their Russian, or Orlan, spacesuits. Anderson is also sampling fluids from the newly installed Internal Thermal Control System.

Expedition 16 crew members will be flying to Baikonur, Kazakhstan next week to begin final preparations for their mission to the International Space Station. On Oct. 10 they will launch aboard a Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft and dock to the station two days later.

+ View crew daily timelines http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/timelines/index.html + Read more about Expedition 15 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/index.html + Read more about Expedition 16 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition16/index.html