Today marks the final day of joint operations for the Space Shuttle Discovery and International Space Station crews. After almost nine days together, Discovery is scheduled to undock from the station today at 5:08 a.m. CDT.

Discovery crew members were awakened at 12:08 a.m. by "Beautiful Day," performed by U2. It was for Discovery Pilot Mark Kelly, on undocking day.

After a few final equipment transfers and system configurations, all nine crew members will gather for a televised farewell ceremony at 2:38 a.m. Hatch closure between the station and shuttle will immediately follow.

After undocking, Kelly will perform the two separation burns to take Discovery away from the station.

About three hours after undocking, Commander Steve Lindsey and Mission Specialists Lisa Nowak and Mike Fossum will use the shuttle's robotic arm and the orbital boom sensor system to perform final inspections of the starboard wing. Then Kelly and Mission Specialist Stephanie Wilson will do the same on the shuttle nose.

Discovery will remain about 45 miles behind the station until the mission management team reviews survey results and clears Discovery for landing, scheduled for Monday at Kennedy Space Center.

The Expedition 13 crew will resume normal station operations. Once their shuttle counterparts have departed, they will conduct some routine maintenance and exercise onboard. Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Thomas Reiter will conduct emergency drills training and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams will depressurize the pressurized mating adapter.

The next STS-121 mission status report will be issued Saturday evening, or earlier if events warrant.

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