Shuttle Discovery docks in space station port

Houston, Dec 12: Space shuttle Discovery slipped into a docking port at the International Space Station, ending a two-day voyage that began with NASA's first night launch since the 2003 Columbia accident.

Discovery commander Mark Polansky gently pulsed his ship's steering jets to guide the shuttle's docking ring into a matching clasp on the station.

The two spacecraft locked into place at (0336 IST) as they sailed 220 miles above the Earth, northwest of Bangladesh.

''Welcome aboard,'' station commander Michael Lopez-Alegria told the crew.

Before docking, Polansky twirled Discovery 360 degrees around so crew members aboard the station could photograph heat tiles on the ship's belly. The pictures will be analyzed by engineers to make sure the shuttle was not damaged by debris during launch.

The shuttle crew spent its first day in space on Sunday inspecting other parts of Discovery's heat shield, as part of NASA's post-Columbia safety improvements.

Columbia broke apart as it flew through the atmosphere because of undetected damage to its wing, which had been hit by a piece of insulation that fell off the fuel tank during launch 16 days earlier. All seven astronauts aboard were killed.

NASA redesigned the fuel tanks but, until Discovery's liftoff on Saturday, had restricted launches to daytime to ensure cameras would be able to spot any debris flying off the tank.

That restriction, however, would not give NASA enough time to finish building the space station before the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010. With flexibility to launch at night, NASA hopes to complete at least 14 missions in the next four years.

The work scheduled for Discovery's week-long stay at the station is key to all remaining missions. The astronauts must rewire the station's power grid so it can make use of a new set of solar arrays delivered in September and two more sets of arrays awaiting launch.

The increased power is needed for laboratory modules built by Europe and Japan that will be attached to the station beginning next year.

Discovery also is carrying a new piece of the station's external structural backbone, scheduled to be installed during the first spacewalk of the mission today.

The most important transfer was to occur shortly after hatches between the two spacecraft are opened. Shuttle astronaut Sunita Williams is to become part of the space station crew, joining Lopez-Alegria and flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin. The European Space Agency's Thomas Reiter, who has been in orbit for six months, will return with the shuttle crew.

''Tally-ho on the new home,'' Williams sang out as the shuttle crew first caught sight of the station yesterday afternoon. ''It's beautiful. The solar arrays are glowing.'' Replied astronaut Kevin Ford at Mission Control, ''I don't know what kind of creature comforts are going to be aboard, but I know it's going to be a room with a view.'' Williams is to remain aboard the station until June.

Discovery is due back at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on December. 21.

REUTERS