At 11:51 a.m. EST, Commander Charlie Hobaugh backed space shuttle Atlantis into pressurized mating adapter #2 on the International Space Station’s Harmony node. The two spacecraft were flying 220 miles above Earth between Australia and Tasmania at the time they docked.
The shuttle and station crews will open hatches and hold the traditional welcome ceremony at 1:48 p.m. When hatches open, astronaut Nicole Stott’s tenure as a station Expedition 21 flight engineer will come to an end as she joins the Atlantis crew.