Space shuttle Endeavour docks to International Space Station

Space shuttle Endeavour is presently catching up with the International Space Station (ISS) prior to the time that was expected for the docking of the spaceship, NASA reported.

On board the ship are Commander Mark Kelly, mission specialists Greg Chamitoff, Michael Fincke, Andrew Feustal, pilot Gregory H Johnson and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Roberto Vittori.

The crew will be met by ISS Expedition 27 commander Dmitry Kondratyev, flight engineers Alexander Samokutyaev and Andrey Borisenko, ESA's Paolo Nespoli and NASA's Ron Garan and Cady Coleman, International Business Times reports.

NASA elaborates: "The combined crew of 12 will begin almost 12 days of operations while the spacecraft are docked, including installation of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 and four spacewalks.

Beginning at 9:16 a.m. (13:16 GMT), they will operate the shuttle and station's robotic arms to transfer the spare parts carrier, Express Logistics Carrier 3, from the shuttle to installation on the station. Among items on it are a spare ammonia tank, a high-pressure oxygen tank, two S-band antennas and 10 circuit breakers," Register informs.