Atlantis docks at space station

THE shuttle Atlantis arrived at the International Space Station yesterday amid a flurry of picture-taking intended to make up for a curtailed safety survey the day before.

Four of the six space station residents snapped hundreds of pictures as Atlantis made its final approach. The shuttle performed a slow backflip so all its surfaces could be photographed.

An hour later, it docked flawlessly with the station, 350 kilometres above the South Pacific. On Saturday, a snagged cable prevented the six shuttle astronauts from properly inspecting their ship.