Live In Orbit: First Crew Of Six Hooks Up At Station

The second half of the International Space Station's first six-person crew arrived at the outpost at 8:34 a.m. as the $100 billion complex and a Russian Soyuz spacecraft linked-up 217 miles above southern China.

"Very good," one of the crew said as contact between the craft was confirmed.

"Excellent," another said.

The joined crews now are making certain that docking system hooks and latches have firmed secured the linked spacecraft and that there is an airtight seal between them.

A post-docking news conference from the Russian Mission Control Center outside Moscow is coming up, and you can watch it live in The Flame Trench. Simply click the NASA TV box on the righthand side of the page to launch our NASA TV viewer, and be sure to refresh this page for periodic updates.

Hatch-opening between the Soyuz and the station is scheduled for 9:45 a.m., and a welcome ceremony will take place shortly after that.

Arriving at the station: Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, Belgian astronaut Frank De Winne of the European Space Agency and Robert Thirsk of the Canadian Space Agency.

Already onboard the outpost: Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, U.S. astronaut Michael Barratt and Koichi Wakata of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

ABOUT THE IMAGES: Click to enlarge and save the NASA TV screen grabs. The first shows the Soyuz spacecraft making its final approach to the International Space Station as it closed within about 17 meters of the outpost. The second shows the station as seen from the Soyuz during its approach to the outpost.