CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Shuttle Endeavour smoothly pulled up to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday, setting the stage for a busy week of assembly operations and crew rotation chores.Beginning with Saturday's launch from the Kennedy Space Center, Endeavour was expertly maneuvered through a series of engine firings that put it on an intended collision course with the orbiting outpost.
But instead of slamming into the collection of modules and solar panels, shuttle commander Jim Wetherbee deftly guided the spaceplane to a gentle docking at 4:59 p.m. EST (2159 GMT) -- the final closing rate no more than one-tenth of a foot per second.
"It was a very successful docking today. I would say it was a textbook rendezvous. It was very smooth all the way through," said lead shuttle flight director Paul Dye at the conclusion of the day's activities.
In the hours leading up to docking, the two ships first appeared as stars to each other and then later grew into more familiar shapes until they were close enough to establish direct ship-to-ship radio contact.
"Endeavour, Alpha. We have you loud and clear," Expedition Five science officer Peggy Whitson responded to an initial radio call.
"Pehhh-geeee! How are you?" Endeavour spacewalker Mike Lopez-Alegria shouted out."You guys look pretty good out there," Whitson said.
"We're just saying the same about you," Lopez-Alegria replied.
A new television camera installed on the station in October provided incredible scenes of the spaceplane's final approach, which was broadcast live on NASA TV.
As Endeavour's docking ring engaged the forward port of the station's Destiny science module, Whitson continued a Naval tradition adopted for spaceflight by ringing the ship's bell in the Unity Node and calling out "Endeavour arriving."
During the next 90 minutes the crew retracted the shuttle's docking ring, established a pressurized tunnel between the two vessels and then opened the hatches to begin a full week of docked operations.
Waiting with Whitson on the station was her fellow Expedition Five crewmates of commander Valery Korzun and flight engineer Sergei Treschev.
They have been living and working on the ISS since the last shuttle Endeavour mission delivered them in June and now will ride Endeavour home for a planned landing on Dec. 4.
Replacing them will be the Expedition Six crew of Ken Bowersox, Don Pettit and Nikolai Budarin -- a trio who moved into the station moments after the hatches between the shuttle and station were opened. A formal change of command ceremony is expected later in the flight.
With the shuttle docked and the station crews swapped, the next task ahead is the other major goal of the mission: the installation of the P-One truss segment with its attached heat-dispelling radiator panels.
The heavy lifting for that job is to be done -- literally -- on Tuesday.
Wetherbee will operate the shuttle's robot arm and is to pluck the 14.5-ton truss from the cargo bay beginning about 10:20 a.m. EST (1520 GMT). Once clear of the bay, Wetherbee will hand off the truss to the space station's robot arm, which Whitson will operate.
Officials say the arm maneuvers aren't particularly tough, but will require careful coordination.
"Any time your handling a mass that large with two arms it's going to get your interest," Dye said. "Would I say it's particularly tricky? Not really. It's all well understood maneuvers with good clearances. The crew has practiced it many times."
After Whitson's station arm has grabbed hold, she will then swing the truss into position next to the S-Zero truss, where a mechanical claw will grab hold of a bar and hold the two trusses closely together.
Commands then will be sent from the ground to turn a series of bolts that will permanently lock the two girders together.
Once done that will be the signal for Lopez-Alegria and fellow spacewalker John Herrington to depart the Quest airlock and begin a planned 6.5-hour extravehicular activity.
Their job: begin connecting electrical and plumbing lines between the station and the truss. Spacewalks on Thursday and Saturday will continue the outfitting of the truss and complete a number of other tasks around the station's exterior.
The truss won't be fully installed until Bowersox and Budarin stage a spacewalk later in December as part of their Expedition Six increment.
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