For perhaps the second-to-last time, a large Italian cargo module has been pulled from its International Space Station docking port to be returned to a space shuttle. Discovery mission specialist Jose Hernandez and pilot Kevin Ford grappled the cylindrical module called Leonardo with the station's 58-foot robotic arm at 6:46 p.m.
About an hour later, computer commands had opened 16 bolts and additional latches fastening the module to the Harmony node's Earth-facing port. Working inside the station's Destiny lab, Hernandez and Ford slowly backed Leonardo from the port with the arm just after 8 p.m. to start its short journey back to the shuttle's payload bay.
The same steps in reverse last Monday moved Leonardo and more than 15,000 pounds of cargo from Discovery to the station.
The container now holds about 2,400 pounds of trash, science experiments and surplus goods set to return to Earth on Thursday, following Discovery's undocking Tuesday afternoon.
The Leonardo module is one of three Italian-built Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules, or MPLMs. Commonly called "moving vans," they have now flown nine times since 2001.
Only one more of the six remaining scheduled shuttle flights is definitely planning to haul a moving van, NASA says: STS-131 in March.
The shuttle manifest also shows one flying on STS-133 by next September, but officials say the flight's payload is still under deliberation.
Leonardo should be securely latched in Discovery's payload bay after 9 p.m.
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