Yesterday, the seven astronauts who delivered the second component of the Japanese laboratory to the International Space Station, have started their trip to Earth.

During their stay at ISS, the astronauts have installed the Japanese pressurized science laboratory, also known as the JPM.

The conducted three spacewalks and besides the installation of JP, they performed various other tasks. Today, in their 13th flight day, the astronauts will answer questions from ESPN and ABC News.

When the interview is complete, the crew will stow the orbiter boom sensor system in the shuttle’s payload bay. They also will power down Discovery’s robot arm in preparation for landing Saturday.

The shuttle is bringing back home Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman, who was replaced by Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff.

Selected by NASA as a Mission Specialist in June 1998, Garett Reisman reported for training in August 1998. After completing this training, Dr. Reisman was assigned to the Astronaut Office Robotics Branch where he worked primarily on the Space Station robotic arm.

In October 2001, Dr. Reisman was assigned to the Astronaut Office Advanced Vehicles Branch where he worked on the displays and checklists to be used in the next generation Space Shuttle cockpit.

In June 2003, Dr. Reisman was a crewmember on NEEMO V, living on the bottom of the sea in the Aquarius habitat for two weeks.

Reisman served as a member of both the Expedition-16 and the Expedition-17 crew aboard the International Space Station.

Selected by NASA for the Astronaut Class of 1998, Greg Chamitoff started training in August 1998 and qualified for flight assignment as a Mission Specialist in 2000. His assignments within the astronaut office have included Space Station procedure and display development, crew support for ISS Expedition 6, lead CAPCOM for ISS Expedition 9, and Space Station Robotics.

In July 2002, Dr. Chamitoff was a crew-member on the Aquarius undersea research habitat for 9 days as part of the NEEMO 3 mission (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations).

Dr. Chamitoff is currently assigned as ISS Flight Engineer and Science Officer on Expedition 17 and will spend six months living and working onboard the International Space Station. He will return to Earth on shuttle mission STS-126.