Image above: Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson, KC5ZTD, is pictured with crew members Léopold Eyharts, FX0STD, Yuri Malenchenko, RK3DUP and Garrett Reisman, KE5HAE. Eyharts has ended his stay as a station flight engineer and is going home with the STS-123 crew aboard space shuttle Endeavour. Credit: NASA TV

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Endeavour crew begins journey home

After the STS-123 and Expedition 16 crews bid one another farewell, the hatches between the space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station closed at 5:49 p.m. EDT Monday.

Then, Endeavour undocked from the station at 8:25 p.m. EDT, ending its 12-day stay at the orbital outpost.

After performing a flyaround of the orbital outpost, the shuttle crew began their journey back to Earth.

STS-123 arrived at the station March 12, delivering the Japanese Experiment Logistics Module - Pressurized Section, the first pressurized component of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory, to the station. The crew of Endeavour also delivered the final element of the station’s Mobile Servicing System, the Canadian-built Dextre, also known as the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator.

In addition the STS-123 astronauts delivered Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman, KE5HAE, who replaced European Space Agency Astronaut Léopold Eyharts, FX0STD, on the station. Eyharts is returning to Earth aboard Endeavour.

The astronauts also performed five spacewalks while on the station.

Endeavour is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on Wednesday.