Officials at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas said the shuttle undocked without incident Monday at 1452 GMT, leaving behind the station's new Expedition Three crew members -- US commander Frank Culbertson and Russians Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin -- who will remain at the station for four months.

The members of the previous crew, Russian commander Yury Usachev and US astronauts James Voss and Susan Helms, were on the station for five-and-a-half months.

The trio awoke early Monday to the tune of "Brand New Day," a song by Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Sting, piped in through Discovery's loudspeakers at the request of Helms's friends and family members.

Discovery is expected to land at Florida's Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday at 1646 GMT.

In addition to bringing home the Expedition Two crew, the shuttle will return to Earth with the Italian-built Leonardo logistics module -- which was used to carry more than three tonnes of equipment to the station and will bring back a slightly lighter load of two tonnes of materials and trash from the station, as well as the crew's personal effects.

Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links ISS and Shuttle Portal at NASA SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Space Station News at Space-Travel.Com Memory Foam Mattress Review SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News STATION NEWS NASA Had No Choice But To Buy Soyuz Flights Washington DC (SPX) Jan 09, 2006 NASA's announcement last week that it will pay Roskosmos $43.6 million for a round-trip ride to the International Space Station this spring, and an equivalent figure for an as-yet-undetermined number of future flights to the station until 2012, represents the agency's acknowledgment that it had no alternative.