Ending a two-day chase through the heavens, the space shuttle Discovery docked at the International Space Station today, arriving with a new crew for the orbiting outpost and ready to return its current crew to Earth.
Discovery commander Scott Horowitz, spotting the station from 55 miles away, radioed Tallyho ISS Station Alpha. Alpha is the radio call sign used by US and Russian astronauts who live on the orbiting outpost.
Video cameras aboard the space station sent back pictures of the shuttle, white with black trim, floating above the Pacific Ocean, a deep and iridescent blue swelling in the background.
The station, as seen from Discovery's cameras, had none of the shuttle's aerodynamic lines, since it was built only for travel in the extremely thin atmosphere of low Earth orbit. The facets of its modular surface dazzled in the unfiltered sunlight of outer space.
Discovery was launched yesterday with tons of supplies for the Expedition Three crew, including food, clothing, replacement parts and hardware for the 18 scientific studies they will begin while there.
Spending their last hours alone at the station were the Russian commander, Yury Usachev, and American flight engineers James Voss and Susan Helms, the Expedition Two crew.
The space station is about 50 percent completed, with final elements to be added over time.
Expedition Three is commanded by American Frank Culbertson and includes Russian flight engineers Mikhail Tyurin and Vladimir Usachev, who would pilot the Russian Soyuz escape craft if the trio had to abandon the station.
They are scheduled to return to Earth in early December but are prepared to stay as long as six months.