spacetoday.net: Shuttle docks with ISS

Posted: Wed, May 18, 2011, 11:38 PM ET (0338 GMT)
STS-134: docking (NASA)

The space shuttle Endeavour docked with the International Space Station for the final time on Wednesday. Endeavour docked with the station's Harmony node at 6:14 am EDT (1014 GMT), and hatches separating the station and shuttle opened about two hours later. The docking took place two days after the shuttle's launch from the Kennedy Space Center. After docking, astronauts used the shuttle's and station's robotic arms to transfer a pallet of spare parts from the shuttle's cargo bay to the station's truss. On Thursday they will use the arms to install the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, the shuttle's primary payload on this mission, on the station. Shuttle managers said late Wednesday that they are continuing to examine a few dings in tiles in the shuttle's underside observed during inspections prior to docking, but do not consider the damage any cause for concern.