Life in Space: Email from the ISS

NASA astronaut John "Danny" Olivas, STS-128 mission specialist, poses for a photo with the growing collection, in the Unity node, of insignias representing crews who have worked on the ISS.Photo taken September 7, 2009. Courtesy of NASA

Crew members on the ISS pose for a group photo following a joint crew news conference in the Harmony node of the International Space Station. Pictured from the left (front row) are European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, Expedition 20 flight engineer and Expedition 21 commander; spaceflight participant Guy Laliberte; Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, Expedition 19/20 commander; and NASA astronaut Michael Barratt, Expedition 19/20 flight engineer. From the left (middle row) are Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, Expedition 20/21 flight engineer; NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams, Expedition 21 flight engineer and Expedition 22 commander; and Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suraev, Expedition 21/22 flight engineer. Pictured on the back row are NASA astronaut Nicole Stott and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk, both Expedition 20/21 flight engineers. Photo taken October 5, 2009. Courtesy of NASA

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk and NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, both Expedition 21 flight engineers; along with European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne (background), commander, work in the Harmony node of the ISS. Photo taken October 15, 2009. Courtesy of NASA

Astronauts Nicole Stott, Expedition 20 flight engineer; and Patrick Forrester, STS-128 mission specialist, work in the Kibo laboratory of the ISS while Space Shuttle Discovery remains docked to the station. Photo taken August 31, 2009. Courtesy of NASA

NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, Expedition 21 flight engineer, equipped with a bungee harness, exercises on the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT) in the Harmony node of the ISS. Photo taken October 20, 2009. Courtesy of NASA

Backdropped by Earth's horizon and the blackness of space, the International Space Station is seen from Space Shuttle Discovery as the two spacecraft begin their relative separation. Earlier the STS-128 and Expedition 20 crew concluded nine days of cooperative work onboard the shuttle and station. Photo taken September 8, 2009. Courtesy of NASA

Astronauts Brent W. Jett, Jr. (left) and William M. Shepherd participate in an old Navy tradition of ringing a bell to announce the arrival or departure of someone to a ship. The bell is mounted on the wall in the Unity node of the ISS. The bell-ringing took place shortly after an in-space reunion on STS-97 Flight Day 9. Photo taken December 8, 2000. Courtesy of NASA

Expedition 20 crew members pose for an in-flight crew photo in the Harmony node of the ISS. Pictured clockwise are Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka (bottom center), commander; Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk, European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne and NASA astronaut Michael Barratt, all flight engineers. Photo taken October 1, 2009. Courtesy of NASA

Astronaut Nicole Stott, STS-128 mission specialist, floats through a hatch on the Space Shuttle Discovery during flight day three activities. Photo taken August 30, 2009. Courtesy of NASA

NASA astronaut Nicole Stott and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, both Expedition 20/21 flight engineers, are pictured at the galley in the Unity node of the ISS. Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk, Expedition 20/21 flight engineer, is mostly out of frame at right. Photo taken October 5, 2009. Courtesy of NASA

Backdropped against the blackness of space and the Earth's horizon, the ISS was photographed through an aft flight deck window following separation from the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Photo taken December 15, 2001. Courtesy of NASA

Members of the Space Shuttle Endeavour and ISS crews spend some rare leisure time together on the orbital outpost as they move within a day and half of undocking and going separate ways. Astronaut Sandra Magnus, flight engineer for Expedition 18, is partially visible at lower left corner. Others sharing a few moments in the Unity node, from the left, are cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov, Expedition 18 flight engineer, and astronauts Steve Bowen and Donald Pettit, both STS-126 mission specialists. Photo taken November 26, 2008. Courtesy of NASA

Astronaut Nicole Stott, STS-128 mission specialist, looks over a checklist on the middeck of Space Shuttle Discovery during flight day two activities. Photo taken August 29, 2009. Courtesy of NASA

Astronaut Rick Sturckow, STS-128 commander, gives a "thumbs-up" signal while exercising on a bicycle ergometer on the middeck of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Discovery. Astronaut Nicole Stott, mission specialist, is visible at right. Photo taken August 29, 2009. Courtesy of NASA

NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, Expedition 20 flight engineer, is pictured in the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), temporarily attached to the ISS while Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-128) remains docked with the station. Photo taken September 5, 2009. Courtesy of NASA

As seen through a window on Endeavour's aft flight deck, the ISS, then staffed with its fourth three-person crew, is contrasted against Earth's horizon during a farewell look from the shuttle following undocking. Photo taken December 15, 2001. Courtesy of NASA

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk (left), NASA astronauts Jeffrey Williams and Nicole Stott; along with Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suraev, all Expedition 21 flight engineers, share a meal at the galley in the Zvezda Service Module of the ISS. Photo taken October 12, 2009. Courtesy of NASA

European Space Agency astronauts Christer Fuglesang (top foreground), STS-128 mission specialist; and Frank De Winne, Expedition 20 flight engineer, install a Materials Science Research Rack-1 (MSRR-1) in the Destiny laboratory of the ISS. NASA astronaut Kevin Ford (partially out of frame), STS-128 pilot; is at left; and NASA astronaut Tim Kopra, mission specialist, works in the background. Photo taken September 2, 2009. Courtesy of NASA

A close-up view of a Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE-6) on the exterior of the Columbus laboratory is featured in this image photographed by a space walking astronaut during the STS-128 mission's first session of extravehicular activity (EVA). MISSE collects information on how different materials weather in the environment of space. MISSE was later placed in Space Shuttle Discovery's payload bay for its return to Earth. A portion of a payload bay door is visible in the background. Photo taken September 1, 2009. Courtesy of NASA