Earth's Gravity Kept Astronauts Waiting at Space Station's Door

Astronauts aboard space

Endeavour docked at the space station Wednesday morning at 12:06 a.m. EST (0506 GMT),

But not so during Endeavour's arrival. It took about 45 minutes for the relative motion to damp out. Only

Space shuttle flight

With Endeavour docked at the

But unlike small round

"One of the external forces

While the 11 astronauts

On Earth's surface, the

Spacecraft counter the

The space station is a

But it has modules jutting

"This creates what we call a

Typically, visiting shuttles

So while Endeavour's six astronauts had to wait a bit longer than normal to join their

"It's a lot less common, but

Endeavour's crew, commanded

The astronauts launched

The mission is the first of

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