The crews of shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station joined forces aboard the orbiting outpost today, setting the stage for the most ambitious burst of assembly since construction began a decade ago.
With the shuttle and the station linked 220 miles above Earth, Discovery mission commander Pam Melroy floated through the hatch of the U.S. Destiny laboratory around 10:39 a.m. as the spacecraft flew over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of North Carolina.
Melroy immediately embraced station skipper Peggy Whitson, the first woman to command the outpost. It was the first time two female space mission commanders have met in low Earth orbit.
Click to enlarge and save the NASA TV screen grab of the historic encounter:
The remainder of the shuttle crew then floated into the lab, and there were hugs, handshakes, and a lot of laughter. The joined crews include shuttle pilot George Zamka and five mission specialists: Scott Parazynski, Stephanie Wilson, Douglas Wheelock, Dan Tani and Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency. The station crew also includes Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and U.S. flight engineer Clay Anderson.
The joined crews quickly went off to the Russian Service Module for a standard post-docking safety briefing.
A Mission Status Briefing is coming up at the top of the hour.
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