CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Shuttle Discovery's astronauts pulled off a slow motion docking at the International Space Station Sunday, arriving at the outpost with a new resident crew, tons of fresh supplies and dozens of science research experiments.

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Three new tenants will start moving in to the International Space Station Monday as a shuttle-borne cargo carrier containing their luggage is mounted Monday morning to the outpost with Discovery's robot arm. Click here for live coverage.

With the two spaceships flying in formation at Mach 25, Discovery crept up to the station at the glacial speed of 1.2 inches (3 centimeters) per second as both craft flew 250 miles (400 kilometers) over northwest Australia.

Shuttle skipper Scott "Doc" Horowitz was at the controls as identical docking rings on Discovery and the station came into contact at 2:42 p.m. EDT (1642 GMT), triggering a set of 12 capture latches.

One of six shock absorbers on the shuttle's docking mechanism stuck for a few minutes. But ultimately all of them retracted, creating an airtight seal between the craft.

"It was great watching that rendezvous," Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean told the shuttle crew from NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston, noting that Horowitz used less fuel than expected during the link-up.

"We're glad it went so efficiently," Horowitz replied. "The orbiter flies like a rock. It's great."

"And Doc, we agree with everything you say," MacLean added. "Except for the analogy."

Anxiously awaiting the shuttle's arrival: Current outpost commander Yuri Usachev and flight engineers Susan Helms and Jim Voss, who have been on the station since March and will hitch a ride home aboard Discovery.

With Johann Strauss' "Blue Danube Waltz" blaring within the station's U.S. Destiny laboratory, the trio spun weightless pirouettes as Discovery made its final approach to the outpost.

Looking like a hamster on an exercise wheel, Voss also ran zero gravity circles around the inner hull of the research facility.

"Obviously, the excitement level onboard the International Space Station (is) continuing to grow," NASA flight commentator Eileen Hawley said.

The scene was just as boisterous two hours later when hatches between the two craft swung open for the first time.

"Hey! How are you doing? You ready for visitors?" Horowitz said as he and Usachev hugged at the threshold of the Destiny lab.

"There are a lot of people here!" Usachev exclaimed. "Welcome!"

"Come on over!" Helms yelled.

And then one by one, the four shuttle astronauts and their station-bound passengers -- incoming outpost commander Frank Culbertson and Russian cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Turin -- floated into the bus-sized Destiny lab.

Voss marked the occasion by ringing a bell mounted near the Destiny hatch -- a naval tradition when a new commander boards a vessel.

"That was for Frank," he said, before adding a bit more formally: "Excuse me, Expedition Three arriving."

The orbital coupling capped a 46-hour chase that began with Discovery's launch Friday from Kennedy Space Center -- a liftoff precisely timed to put the shuttle on course for the station.

Horowitz and shuttle pilot Rick Sturckow carried out a series of thruster firings over the course of the next two days, gradually closing the gap between Discovery and the station.