With pilot Ken Ham at the controls, the shuttle Discovery undocked from the international space station today as the two spacecraft sailed 210 miles above the south Pacific Ocean just north of New Zealand.

"Houston and station from Discovery, physical separation," shuttle commander Mark Kelly radioed at 7:42 a.m. as Discovery slowly pulled away.

Joining Ham and Kelly aboard Discovery were flight engineer Ronald Garan, Karen Nyberg, Michael Fossum, Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and outgoing space station flight engineer Garrett Reisman, returning to Earth after 95 days in space.

Reisman was replaced by Gregory Chamitoff, who remained behind on the station with Expedition 17 commander Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko. The two Russians plan to return to Earth aboard a Soyuz spacecraft in October while Chamitoff will remain aloft until the next shuttle visit in November.

"I just want to say to Sergei, Oleg and Greg that we wish them the best with their expedition and we hope we left them a better, more capable space station than when we arrived," Kelly radioed shortly before undocking. "Sayonara."

"Copy that, Mark," Chamitoff replied. "It was a great adventure with all of you guys, the adventure of a lifetime. It's amazing how much got done here. I'm so glad everything worked out so well. We wish you guys a terrific flight back, an awesome landing and I look forward to seeing you on the ground."

"We'll see you in about, hopefully, a little less than six months," Kelly said.

After completing a 360-degree fly around, Ham fired Discovery's maneuvering jets to leave the area for good. Following naval tradition, Chamitoff rang the ship's bell in the Destiny lab module, saying "Discovery departing after a successful mission to the international space station, leaving behind great memories and new hope - Kibo - for the future."

He was referring to the Japanese laboratory module installed Discovery's crew. The module is known as Kibo, or "hope" in Japanese.

"Thank you, Alpha," Kelly replied. "It was great to spend some time with you guys there and we'll see you back on Earth."

"Thanks, Mark, it was terrific," Chamitoff said. "The whole mission was really enjoyable with everybody. We're sad to see you guys go, but we look forward to seeing you guys on the ground."

Reisman chimed in a few minutes later, saying "just wanted to let you know that you can have all my uneaten Snickers bars."

"And Garrett, we found those last night and broke into them," Chamitoff laughed. "Thanks!"

After a break for lunch. Ham, Karen Nyberg and Michael Fossum planned to position the shuttle's robot arm for a detailed inspection of the ship's reinforced carbon carbon nose cap and wing leading edge panels, which experience the most heat during re-entry. Ronald Garan will take Nyberg's place for the nose cap and left wing surveys.

Discovery was launched without an orbiter boom sensor system, the 50-foot-long extension normally used the day after launch to look for signs of damage to the shuttle's most critical areas. Discovery's payload, the Kibo laboratory module, was so large there was no room for the OBSS in the shuttle's cargo bay.

As a result, the crew of a shuttle mission in March left their inspection boom behind on the space station. Fossum and Garan retrieved it during the first of their three spacewalks and it will be used today to carry out an inspection identical to what normally would have been done on flight day two.

"The only thing really that we haven't done is a detailed scan of the undersides, the lower surfaces of both leading edges," said lead Flight Director Matt Abbott. "Of course, from the (rendezvous) photography and the other imagery that we've taken, we haven't seen anything that gives us any indication of concern at this point. What we don't have is the detailed resolution that we get with the LDRI, the laser systems and the OBSS sensors. So that's what we'll be looking for, taking that very detailed look. But there certainly has been nothing to this point that warrants any concern."

If any problems are found, Discovery's crew would have the option of returning to the space station to attempt repairs. A repair kit to fix damage to leading edge panels normally stays on the space station, but Discovery is bringing it home.

"The next mission to launch is the Hubble (servicing) mission," Ham said in a NASA interview. "They need to fly that patch kit for their mission, obviously, because they canšt get to space station."

Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: TUESDAY'S FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY
VIDEO: THE FLIGHT DAY 10 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: MONDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: JOINT CREW IN-FLIGHT NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
VIDEO: KIBO LAB'S ROBOT ARM EXTENDED AND CHECKED OUT PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED PREVIEW OF ROBOT ARM DEPLOYMENT PLAY
VIDEO: MONDAY'S FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: THE FLIGHT DAY 9 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: SUNDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED PREVIEW OF SPACEWALK NO. 3 PLAY
VIDEO: ANIMATION OF NITROGEN TANK REPLACEMENT PLAY
VIDEO: SUNDAY'S FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: THE FLIGHT DAY 8 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: JAPANESE VIP CALL TO STATION PLAY
VIDEO: SATURDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: MEDIA INTERVIEWS WITH SHUTTLE AND ISS CREWS PLAY
VIDEO: KIBO LAB'S ROBOTIC ARM FLEXES FOR FIRST TIME PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED PREVIEW OF ARM'S FIRST MOVEMENTS PLAY
VIDEO: SATURDAY'S FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY
VIDEO: CREW'S DOWNLINKED REPLAY OF LOGISTICS MODULE MOVE PLAY

VIDEO: LEFT-HAND BOOSTER CAMERA LOOKING UPWARD PLAY
VIDEO: LEFT-HAND BOOSTER CAMERA LOOKING INBOARD PLAY
VIDEO: LEFT-HAND BOOSTER CAMERA LOOKING DOWNWARD PLAY
VIDEO: RIGHT-HAND BOOSTER CAMERA LOOKING UPWARD PLAY
VIDEO: RIGHT-HAND BOOSTER CAMERA LOOKING DOWNWARD PLAY

VIDEO: THE FLIGHT DAY 7 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: FRIDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE CREW ASKED TO TAKE PHOTOS OF WING PANELS PLAY
VIDEO: JAPANESE LOGISTICS MODULE MOVED TO KIBO LAB'S ROOF PLAY
VIDEO: STATION'S ROBOT ARM GRAPPLES LOGISTICS MODULE PLAY
VIDEO: MEDIA INTERVIEWS WITH SHUTTLE AND ISS COMMANDERS PLAY
VIDEO: FRIDAY'S FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED PREVIEW OF LOGISTICS MODULE MOVE PLAY

VIDEO: THE FLIGHT DAY 6 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: BUZZ LIGHTYEAR TOY ON THE LOOSE IN SPACE PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS INVITE VIEWERS TO DINNER PLAY
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VIDEO: INSPECTION OF THE PORT-SIDE SOLAR ROTARY JOINT PLAY
VIDEO: FAULTY TV CAMERA REMOVED FROM STATION PORT TRUSS PLAY
VIDEO: THERMAL SLEEVE PLACED ON KIBO TRUNNION PIN PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH LOCKS RELEASED ON KIBO'S UPPER PORT PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS INSTALL PAIR OF TV CAMERAS ON KIBO PLAY
VIDEO: MIKE FOSSUM EMERGES FROM AIRLOCK FOR EVA NO. 2 PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED PREVIEW OF SPACEWALK NO. 2 PLAY
VIDEO: THURSDAY'S FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: THE FLIGHT DAY 5 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: WEDNESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS ENTER THE KIBO MODULE FOR FIRST TIME PLAY
VIDEO: CEREMONY BEFORE KIBO HATCH OPENING PLAY

VIDEO: THE FLIGHT DAY 4 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: TUESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: KIBO SCIENCE LAB ATTACHED TO THE SPACE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: KIBO MODULE UNBERTHED FROM SHUTTLE PAYLOAD BAY PLAY
VIDEO: CLOSEUP INSPECTION OF STATION'S SOLAR ROTARY JOINT PLAY
VIDEO: FOSSUM UNBOLTS LOCKS ON KIBO'S WINDOW COVERINGS PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS REMOVE COVERS ON KIBO'S PORT PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE POWER UMBILICALS UNHOOKED FROM KIBO PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE INSPECTION BOOM RETRIEVED FROM THE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKER RON GARAN REMOVES COVER ON BOOM PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKER MIKE FOSSUM FREES ARM'S ELBOW CAMERA PLAY
VIDEO: ANIMATION OF KIBO MODULE INSTALLATION PLAY
VIDEO: ANIMATION OF INSPECTION BOOM RETRIEVAL PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED PREVIEW OF SPACEWALK NO. 1 PLAY
VIDEO: TUESDAY'S FLIGHT DIRECTOR INTERVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: THE FLIGHT DAY 3 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: CREW'S REMARKABLE CAMCORDER FOOTAGE FROM MONDAY PLAY
VIDEO: MONDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE CREW WELCOMED INTO STATION PLAY
VIDEO: DISCOVERY DOCKS TO SPACE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: SHUTTLE PERFORMS RENDEZVOUS BACKFLIP PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED ANIMATION OF PREVIEWING THE DOCKING PLAY

VIDEO: THE FLIGHT DAY 2 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: CREW'S CAMCORDER FOOTAGE FROM FLIGHT DAY 2 PLAY
VIDEO: SUNDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: ANIMATION OF THE HEAT SHIELD INSPECTIONS PLAY
VIDEO: NARRATED TOUR OF DISCOVERY'S PAYLOAD BAY PLAY

VIDEO: THE FLIGHT DAY 1 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: EXTERNAL TANK SEEN AFTER SEPARATION PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: VAB ROOF PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA CS-1 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA CS-2 PLAY
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VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: FRONT CAMERA PLAY
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VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PAD PERIMETER PLAY
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VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: UCS-23 TRACKER PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PLAYALINDA BEACH PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PRESS SITE PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: WEST TOWER PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 009 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 041 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 049 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 050 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 051 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 054 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 060 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 061 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 063 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 070 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 071 PLAY

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VIDEO: ONBOARD CAMERA FOOTAGE OF TANK FOAM FALLING PLAY
VIDEO: INSIDE MISSION CONTROL DURING LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: POST-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY

VIDEO: FINAL PRE-LAUNCH POLLS GIVE "GO" FOR LIFTOFF PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS ARRIVE AT LAUNCH PAD 39A PLAY
VIDEO: CREW DEPARTS QUARTERS FOR LAUNCH PAD PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS DON SPACESUITS FOR LAUNCH PLAY
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VIDEO: NARRATED RECAP OF DISCOVERY'S PRE-FLIGHT CAMPAIGN PLAY
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VIDEO: FRIDAY'S COUNTDOWN STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
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VIDEO: NARRATED MISSION PREVIEW MOVIE PLAY

VIDEO: NEWS BRIEFING FOLLOWING FLIGHT READINESS REVIEW PLAY

VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH COMMANDER MARK KELLY PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH PILOT KEN HAM PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS1 KAREN NYBERG PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS2 RON GARAN PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS3 MIKE FOSSUM PLAY
VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH MS4 AKIHIKO HOSHIDE PLAY

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VIDEO: CREW BOARDS DISCOVERY FOR PRACTICE COUNTDOWN PLAY
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VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS ARRIVE FOR PRACTICE COUNTDOWN PLAY

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VIDEO: PAD'S ORBITER ACCESS ARM SWUNG INTO POSITION PLAY
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VIDEO: SHUTTLE DISCOVERY ROLLED TO PAD 39A PLAY

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VIDEO: STS-124 MISSION OVERVIEW PART 1 | PART 2
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VIDEO: THE ASTRONAUTS' PRE-FLIGHT NEWS BRIEFING PLAY

VIDEO: KIBO LABORATORY TRAVELS TO THE LAUNCH PAD PLAY
VIDEO: TRANSPORT CANISTER WITH KIBO ROTATED UPRIGHT PLAY
VIDEO: CRANE PLACES KIBO MODULE INTO TRANSPORT CANISTER PLAY

VIDEO: DISCOVERY HOISTED FOR ATTACHMENT TO FUEL TANK PLAY
VIDEO: THE SHUTTLE MOVES TO THE VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING PLAY
MORE: STS-124 VIDEO COVERAGE
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