NASA's Discovery shuttle hooked up to the international space station today after a 2-day voyage, Space.com reports. Commander Mark Kelly docked at about 2 pm EDT and told the station crew, "We're really looking forward to seeing you guys." "You have no idea how much we're looking forward to seeing you, too," said US astronaut Garrett Reisman.
Soon the crews were exchanging hugs and greetings. Station leader Sergei Volkov gave safety tips to the visitors, who are delivering a $1 billion science module from Japan and plumbing gear to fix the station's shoddy toilet. They plan to drop off Kibo and US astronaut Greg Chamitoff before returning home on June 14. (More NASA stories.)