The Expedition 13 crew aboard the International Space Station began their first full mission day Tuesday. Commander Pavel Vinogradov and flight engineer Jeff Williams performed some maintenance to the orbiting facility.
They also talked with two news organizations and to the attendees at a children's aerospace conference in Russia, and they completed their regular two-and-a-half hours of daily exercise.
Vinogradov and Williams also continued their familiarization with the station's systems and equipment. After their March 30 launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and their April 1 docking with the station, they spent about eight days on handover activities with Expedition 12 crewmembers Bill McArthur and Valery Tokarev, plus their temporary comrade Marcos Pontes of Brazil. Then they enjoyed off-duty days Sunday and Monday.
Meanwhile, McArthur and Tokarev remain in Star City, Russia, near Moscow. They are undergoing debriefing and physical rehabilitation after almost 190 days in space before their landing at Baikonur last Saturday.
Pontes, Brazil's first astronaut, remains with them at Star City. All three men are due to fly to NASA's Johnson Space Center later this month.
