ISS To Endeavour: 'Welcome To Space'

To the ceremonial ringing of a bell, Endeavour astronauts today crawled through hatches into the International Space Station around 7:15 p.m.

Endeavour's seven-person crew exchanged hugs and handshakes with three residents already on board the station.

"Welcome, Endeavour," said Mike Fincke, commander of the station's 18th expedition, as the two crews assembled. "You guys look awesome. It was a beauticul approach, a beautiful docking. We're really glad you're here. We understand that this house is in need of an extreme makeover, and that you're the crew to do it. We think we got everything ready for you. We're really glad to see you. Welcome. Welcome, everybody. Welcome to space."

"We figured we'd go for a 10-year anniversary party for the space station, so that's what we showed up for," said Endeavour commander Chris Ferguson, referring to the launch of the station's first module on Nov. 20, 1998. "We're looking forward to working on your house and making it look a little bit better when we're done. You guys are awesome. It's great to see you."

A mission status briefing is about to begin featuring LeRoy Cain, a senior shuttle manager, and Mike Sarafin, the mission's lead flight director.

You can watch it live here. Just click on the NASA TV image on the right side of the page to launch a viewer.