Shuttle Endeavour arrived 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.
"We've got the place ready for you," space station commander Jeffrey Williams assured the shuttle astronauts. "Looking forward to welcoming you on board."
Back at Mission Control, meanwhile, NASA said that standard checks hadn't revealed any launch damage so far. All the pictures and information collected during the first two days of the flight indicate Endeavour suffered no serious damage during Monday's liftoff. But the analysis is continuing, and a few hundred photos taken from the space station during Endeavour's final approach will yield additional data, said LeRoy Cain, chairman of the mission management team.
Endeavour's crew of six will spend more than a week at the space station, installing the compartments and helping with space station maintenance.
This represents the last major construction work at the orbiting outpost. Once the room, named Tranquility, and the observation deck are in place, the station will be 98 percent complete.
Five men are living at the space station. That makes for a crowd of 11 with Endeavour's presence.
Source : http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g8gpZRl3t8mV2RxsVjIuPU75dJeAD9DP4ACG0
The midnight rendezvous occurred as the two spacecraft sailed over the Atlantic, just west of Portugal.
"We've got the place ready for you," space station commander Jeffrey Williams assured the shuttle astronauts. "Looking forward to welcoming you on board."
Back at Mission Control, meanwhile, NASA said that standard checks hadn't revealed any launch damage so far. All the pictures and information collected during the first two days of the flight indicate Endeavour suffered no serious damage during Monday's liftoff. But the analysis is continuing, and a few hundred photos taken from the space station during Endeavour's final approach will yield additional data, said LeRoy Cain, chairman of the mission management team.
Endeavour's crew of six will spend more than a week at the space station, installing the compartments and helping with space station maintenance.
This represents the last major construction work at the orbiting outpost. Once the room, named Tranquility, and the observation deck are in place, the station will be 98 percent complete.
Five men are living at the space station. That makes for a crowd of 11 with Endeavour's presence.
Source : http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g8gpZRl3t8mV2RxsVjIuPU75dJeAD9DP4ACG0
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