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Orbiting the Earth aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition 16 crew spent Friday wrapping up a busy week with preparations for an upcoming visit from space shuttle Endeavour carrying the station’s new Japanese module.

After a weekly conference between the station crew and the Russian flight control team, Commander Peggy Whitson installed the Centerline Berthing Camera System (CBCS) in the Harmony module. The CBCS will provide visual cues to the astronauts as they install the Japanese Experiment Logistics Module-Pressurized Section (JLP), which is being delivered by Endeavour on the STS-123 mission in March. JLP is the first component of Kibo, the Japanese Experiment Module, to be launched to the station.

Whitson later moved to the Quest airlock to perform maintenance on the cooling loops of the U.S. spacesuits. Five spacewalks are planned while Endeavour is at the station.

Whitson also worked with the Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from Colloidal Emulsions 2 (InSPACE-2) experiment. InSPACE looks at fluids that change properties in response to magnetic fields and collects data that can be used to develop or improve brake systems and robotics.

Earlier in the week, Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko set up the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) control panel. The first ATV, named Jules Verne, is set to launch to the station from French Guiana on an Ariane 5 rocket on March 8. The ATV will dock automatically with the station after the departure of STS-123, though station crew members can take charge of the process if difficulties arise.

The station’s newest crew member, Flight Engineer Leopold Eyharts, spent some time this week with orientation activities, familiarizing himself with procedures and onboard equipment. He also collected a number of blood and urine samples for an ongoing study of human physiological changes during long-duration spaceflight.

Source http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html