New crew arrives at space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Shuttle Endeavour reached the end of a two-day orbital journey Monday, slipping into a docking port at the International Space Station to begin a week-long mission to swap out the station crew and install a new exterior truss segment.

"Endeavour arriving," radioed space station crewmember Peggy Whitson, who rang the ship's bell, upholding a Naval tradition exported to the station.

The shuttle and station's docking rings clasped shut at 4:59 p.m. ET as the two ships sailed 245 miles above the Pacific Ocean, southeast of Australia.

"We had a breathtaking view of your approach to the station," radioed astronaut Pat Forrester from NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston, which picked up a stunning television view from a camera on the station's exterior truss. The video also was distributed over NASA TV and the agency's websites.

"We want to welcome Expedition Six to their new home," Forrester added.

After leak checks and pressurizations, hatches between the two ships were opened and the shuttle crew was welcomed aboard the station by Whitson, commander Valery Korzun and flight engineer Sergei Treschev.

"Very nice docking, beautiful!" said Korzun, greeting shuttle skipper Jim Wetherbee.

The first order of business for the shuttle crew was a safety briefing and the transfer of the station crewmembers' pressure suits and custom Soyuz seat liners so that they will be able to use the station's emergency escape system if needed. Though the official change of command ceremony is not scheduled until later in the week, as soon as the new crew has their emergency gear installed, they are responsible for station operations.

"Once we've done that, then officially we can be left on orbit," incoming station commander Ken Bowersox said in a preflight interview. "But if you talk to the guys who are there now, as soon as we show up, they're going home ... and our job is to figure out how we're going to get back."

The current station crew has been in orbit since June. Their homecoming was delayed by several weeks due to shuttle equipment problems.