Williams works on the payload APEX TAGES in the JPM during Expedition 22

ISS022-E-011304 (15 Dec. 2009) --- NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams, Expedition 22 commander, conducts a daily status check of the Advanced Plant Experiments on Orbit (APEX) experiment in the Kibo laboratory of the International Space Station. During each check, Williams looks for health and color of the plants, since the Cambium plants are removed from the Advanced Biological Research System (ABRS). When completed, the APEX-Cambium payload in conjunction with the NASA-sponsored Transgenic Arabidopsis Gene Expression System (TAGES) will determine the role of gravity in Cambium wood cell development and demonstrate non-destructive reporter gene technology and investigate spaceflight plant stress. APEX-Cambium provides NASA and the ISS community a permanent controlled environment capability to support growth of various organisms (i.e. whole plants).