Space shuttle Endeavour pulls in at space station

MARCIA DUNN The Washington Post 02/10/2010 05:23

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Shuttle Endeavour arrived to a warm welcome at the International Space Station early Wednesday, delivering a new room and observation deck that will come close to completing construction 200 miles above Earth.

The midnight rendezvous occurred as the two spacecraft sailed over the Atlantic, just west of Portugal. It took longer than normal to lock the shuttle and station together because of the relative motion between the two. The space station's five residents filled the time, before their guests came aboard, by trying out camera angles and interviewing one another.

"What are you expecting from the shuttle?" Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi asked Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suraev. "My cucumbers," Suraev replied, getting a big laugh.

The two crews shook hands and embraced when the hatches finally opened, greeting each other with "good to see you" and "how goes it" while floating inside the space station.

Space station commander Jeffrey Williams said he was happy to see his friends - "really happy because we haven't seen many people other than the crew for a long time."

The shuttle's six astronauts were impressed with what they saw.

"We couldn't believe how spectacular and shiny the space station was," said Endeavour's commander, George Zamka.

Back at Mission Control, NASA said that standard checks hadn't revealed any launch damage so far.

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