The crews of Endeavour and the International Space Station joined together today after hatches between the spacecraft swung open a little more than two hours after the shuttle docked at the outpost.Station commander Jeffrey Williams, a U.S. astronaut, welcome shuttle skipper George Zamka and his crew as the dozen now on the complex floated through the U.S. Harmony module, which Zamka helped deliver in late 2007.
"We just want take a moment to welcome the crew of STS-130 aboard the ISS. You know, we're happy to see our friends. Some of us are really happy because we haven't seen anybody but the crew for a long time, and happy that we're coming close to the completion of the assembly of station on this mission. So we're really happen to have you here and onboard," Williams said.
"Jeff, we are glad to be here. It was absolutely beautiful coming on up. As we were looking out the window we couldn't believe how spectacular and shiny the space station was, and after awhile I quit looking at it because I didn't want to think about docking with this big, beautiful station," Zamka said.
"And we're ready to bring up Tranquility and Cupola and work with you guys to bring it to life. So this is a great day."
"It's a great job. We're really looking forward to it. And you folks on the ground, thanks to you too, on both the station side, the shuttle side, KSC, JSC, Huntsville, and all the contractor locations around the country for your dedication to making this all possible," Williams said.
Williams then led the shuttle astronauts through a safety briefing, pointing out where emergency equipment is located and the location of caution-and-warning system stations.
Click Read More for a couple of additional screen grabs from the hatch-opening and welcome ceremony:
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