spacetoday.net: Shuttle docks at ISS

Posted: Fri, Jul 17, 2009, 7:31 PM ET (2331 GMT)
STS-127: shuttle approaching ISS (NASA)

The space shuttle Endeavour docked with the International Space Station on Friday afternoon, beginning an 11-day stay at the station. Endeavour docked with the station at 1:47 pm EDT (1747 GMT), and hatches between the shuttle and station opened about two hours later. Shortly after the hatches opened the shuttle and station exchanged a crew member, as Tim Kopra, who flew to the station on Endeavour, took his place on the station, replacing Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata. Endeavour is planned to remain docked to the station for a week and a half, installing an experiment "porch" on the Japanese module Kibo and performing other work on the station. Five spacewalks are planned while the shuttle is docked to the station, with the first scheduled for Saturday.