The space shuttle Endeavour has docked at the International Space Station, delivering tonnes of supplies, construction material and a new long-duration crew.
The docking came after the shuttle inched its way up to the sprawling science complex as both sped along at 8 km a second above the South Pacific, near New Zealand.
From a distance of about 3 to 5 km the shuttle astronauts were able to chat amiably with the space station crew, which is wrapping up a six-month mission before heading back to Earth on Endeavour.
At one point, shuttle commander Kenneth Cockrell had to break away from the conversation to fire the shuttle's rockets in what is formally known as a course-correction burn.
"OK, Dan, we're going to go do a couple of little burn thingies here and we'll be back with you shortly," Cockrell said to astronaut Daniel Bursch of the space station crew, perhaps coining a new phrase for the rocket firings.
"Good luck with the burn thingies," said Bursch.
As Endeavour closed the final feet between the two, Bursch rang the ship's bell aboard the station and called out, "Endeavour, arriving," a bit of nautical tradition transplanted to life in orbit.
Hatch openings between the two spacecraft was delayed almost an hour because they continued to sway in slightly different directions longer than expected.
Lead flight director Paul Hill said the oscillation was just the result of the 200-tonne shuttle shifting the center of gravity on the 300-tonne space station.
"This is just the nature of mating two very large spacecraft together," Hill said.
Eight days of joint operations are planned before Endeavour heads back to Earth, including three spacewalks.
Russians Valery Korzun and Sergei Treschev and American Peggy Whitson, collectively known as Expedition 5, are to remain on the station for 4 1/2 months when Endeavour departs.
They began transferring essential safety gear from the shuttle to the station in case the shuttle should have to make a hasty exit for any reason.
The Expedition 4 team of Bursch, Yury Onufrienko and Carl Walz will return to Earth on the shuttle.
Endeavour had chased the space station since launching from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The shuttle's robotic arm will shortly lift a bus-sized cargo module from Endeavour's cargo bay and mount it on the station so that cargo can be moved freely through opened hatches.
The module carries almost three tonnes of provisions and science gear for the station. It will return with almost that much garbage and used hardware accumulated on the station since the first crew took up residence in 2000.
By the time they return to Earth, Bursch and Walz will hold the U.S. space endurance record for a single flight, passing the 188-day mark set by Shannon Lucid in 1996 when she was assigned to the Russian Mir station.
© Reuters
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