Shuttle Discovery Arrives at Space Station

Space shuttle Discovery successfully docked at the International Space Station early Wednesday, its astronauts overcoming a rare antenna breakdown that knocked out radar tracking.

Shuttle commander Alan Poindexter and his crew relied on other navigation devices to approach the orbiting outpost.

"You guys are looking beautiful," Japanese space station resident Soichi Noguchi radioed as the shuttle drew within 660 feet, loaded down with supplies.

The two spacecraft came together 215 miles above the Caribbean, precisely on time.

It was only the second time that a shuttle had to dock with the space station without any radar; the first was 10 years ago.

Poindexter trained for just such an event two weeks ago. As he closed in on the final 150 feet, he radioed, "It's a lot of fun."

Flight director Richard Jones said the flying was flawless. "The crew made it look easy," he told reporters.

One of the first matters of business for the 13 space fliers -- once the hatches swung open -- was transmitting detailed laser images of Discovery to Mission Control in Houston.

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