By RIA Novosti,
Washington : The space shuttle Endeavour has docked with the International Space Station at the start of a home-improvement mission due to last almost two weeks, NASA’s Mission Control said.
The shuttle linked up with the orbiter at 22:01 GMT on Sunday, NASA spokeswoman Nicole Cloutier-Lemasters said.
Endeavour took off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Friday with a crew of seven and 14,000 kg of supplies. Six will return to Earth in about two weeks, along with current ISS astronaut Greg Chamitoff, who will be replaced by Sandra Magnus, who is due to remain on the space station until February next year.
The shuttle STS-126 mission, labeled “Extreme Home Improvements,” will also see four spacewalks, including work on the station’s solar power system.
The astronauts will install an additional bathroom, a refrigerator, a second toilet and extra exercise equipment, as part of plans to double the crew size of the ISS as early as May 2009.