HOUSTON—U.S. space shuttle Atlantis docked with the International Space Station on Saturday on a mission to deliver Europe's first permanent space research facility.
Atlantis linked up with the station more than 200 miles above Earth, ending a two-day orbital journey that began on Thursday with launch from Florida.
Atlantis is carrying seven astronauts and the European Space Agency's $1.9 billion Columbus laboratory, which will be attached to the station on Sunday during a spacewalk led by German astronaut Hans Schlegel.
The shuttle and station astronauts were to make sure seals between the two ships were air-tight before hatches are opened and the combined crews begin a week-long joint mission.
Before docking, shuttle commander Stephen Frick gently steered his ship through a 360-degree back-flip so station commander Peggy Whitson and her crew could photograph the underside of Atlantis' heat shield.
He paused a bit longer than planned to allow extra time for viewing a small tear in a thermal blanket on one of the shuttle's maneuvering engines.
The imagery will be analyzed by engineers at NASA's Houston base to determine if any damage was done during the shuttle's climb into orbit on Thursday
The inspections are part of NASA's upgraded safety procedures to prevent another disaster like the 2003 Columbia accident when the shuttle was damaged by insulation that fell from its fuel tank during launch. The damage triggered the shuttle's disintegration when it reentered Earth's atmosphere for landing, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
Atlantis astronauts caught sight of the station when they were about 40 miles away.
"If the station is off the shuttle's nose, it's hugely bright," radioed Frick.
"We were wondering if it's all those candles on Peggy's birthday cake," joked flight communicator Kevin Ford from Mission Control in Houston. Whitson celebrated her 48th birthday on Saturday.
Whitson and her Russian flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko have been on the station for four months and have another two months to go before their replacements arrive on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in April.
The third station crewmember, Dan Tani, will return to Earth with Atlantis. French astronaut Leopold Eyharts, who arrived on the shuttle, will take his place.
NASA has 11 construction and resupply missions remaining to complete the station before the fleet is retired in 2010. It also plans a servicing call to the Hubble Space Telescope in late August or September.
Feeds