Endeavour docks with space station

Space shuttle Endeavour arrived at the international space station today, taking the newest crew to inhabit the orbiting outpost.

The two spacecraft linked up as they sailed 240 miles above the South Pacific.

‘‘Got a real nice view of you,’’ shuttle commander Kenneth Cockrell told the station crew as he guided Endeavour in for the docking.

Space station Alpha’s Russian commander, Yuri Onufrienko, and American astronauts Carl Walz and Daniel Bursch have lived aboard the orbiting outpost for six months.

Endeavour, which launched on Wednesday, is delivering two Russian cosmonauts and one American astronaut who will call Alpha home for 4 1/2 months.

While Endeavour is docked to Alpha for eight days, shuttle astronauts Franklin Chang-Diaz and Philippe Perrin will perform three spacewalks to repair the space station robot arm’s wrist and install a base that will let the robot arm traverse the outpost.