Atlantis Docks at the Space Station

The space shuttle Atlantis approached gracefully and docked flawlessly with the International Space Station on Wednesday, gliding out of the inky darkness of space on the whisper of its smallest jets.

That allowed for a boisterous meeting between the shuttle’s six-member crew and the three current residents of the space station, who began their mission 126 days ago.

The two spacecraft, each weighing more than 100 tons, hurtled above the Earth at five miles a second, but the final miles of an orbital rendezvous are so carefully choreographed that only the rapidly spinning Earth beneath the shuttle, as seen from video cameras aboard the station, hinted at the speed and force involved in their flights.

The shuttle and its crew launched from Florida on Tuesday. Their 11-day mission is carrying a $390-million, 45-foot truss segment for the growing space station.

Shuttle commander Jeffrey Ashby, a U.S. Navy captain, fired the shuttle’s rockets to slow its progress throughout the morning, then used maneuvering jets to fine-tune his approach until Atlantis inched up to the station and grabbed hold of a docking port at 11:17 a.m. EDT, slightly ahead of schedule.

The shuttle and station crews chatted amiably as Atlantis moved within radio range.

“Hey, Piers, how are you doing? How do you like being in space?” called out Peggy Whitson, the American science officer on the station. She and her two Russian crewmates were spending their 126th day in orbit.

“So far, so good. It’s great,” said Piers Sellers, a British-born NASA astronaut making his first flight.

Today, Sellers is to make his first spacewalk with American David Wolf. The pair will secure the truss segment to the station and prepare many of its systems for activation.

The long, narrow, girder-like assembly in the shuttle’s cargo bay is the second truss segment to arrive at the station. It will become part of an eventual 350-foot structure, the longest built in space. The structure will support the massive arrays of solar panels that will power the life support and science activity on the station throughout its life.

After seals and air pressure were checked on the newly joined complex, hatches separating the two spacecraft flew open and the six Atlantis astronauts crowded into the U.S. laboratory module, Destiny, giving their hosts bearhugs and boisterous greetings.

These were the first visitors for the station crew of commander Valery Korzun, flight engineer Sergei Treschev and Whitson since the shuttle crew that delivered them left 17 weeks ago. They will wrap up their long-duration expedition in November.

The Atlantis crew members brought with them fresh fruit, hot sauce and a pecan pie. Living off a diet made up largely of reconstituted food, space station crews most often request items that they can smell and taste, such as oranges.