Manually flying the shuttle Endeavour from the aft flight deck, commander Mark Polansky guided the 120-ton orbiter to a gentle docking with the International Space Station today as the two spacecraft sailed 220 miles above northern Australia at five miles per second.

Endeavour approaches the space station for docking. Credit: NASA TV

With Endeavour's arrival, the space station now boasts a record combined crew of 13 - six full-time station crew members and seven shuttle astronauts. One of them, Timothy Kopra, will officially join the Expedition 20 crew later today, replacing outgoing flight engineer Koichi Wakata.

"The crew is very happy to welcome Endeavour's crew on board space station," station commander Gennady Padalka said. "It's a remarkable event, not only for us but for the whole space program because this is the next great stage of space station assembly. Right now, we've got together 13 people on board space station. Welcome."

"Thank you, Gennady," Polansky replied. "The crew of STS-127 is extremely happy to be here. Thirteen is a pretty big number, but it's going to be an outstanding visit for us. We're happy to go ahead and deliver Col. Kopra to his new home for a while, and maybe Koichi is looking forward to a hot shower back home. We'll make this short because we have a lot of work to do, but we are just thrilled to be here. Thank you."

Running a few minutes ahead of schedule, Polansky guided Endeavour to a smooth docking at the front end of the space station at 1:47 p.m. EDT.

"Docked successfully w/ISS a few minutes ago," Polansky said in a Twitter message downlinked to the internet. "It will take awhile before we can open the hatches, but it's great to be here."

Two hours later, after leak checks to ensure a tight seal, a final hatch between the shuttle and the station was opened at 3:48 p.m.

After ringing the ship's bell in the Harmony module, Padalka and his crewmates - Wakata, NASA flight engineer Michael Barratt, cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne of Belgium and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk - welcomed the shuttle astronauts aboard.

Polansky, Kopra, pilot Douglas Hurley, Canadian flight engineer Julie Payette, David Wolf, Christopher Cassidy and Thomas Marshburn then floated into the Harmony module for enthusiastic hugs and handshakes, creating an unfamiliar traffic jam as all 13 mingled in weightlessness.

After a safety briefing from the station crew, the astronauts went their separate ways, beginning work to transfer equipment from the shuttle to the space station, including spacesuits and tools for a spacewalk Saturday, the first of five planned for Endeavour's mission.

Engineers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, meanwhile, are continuing their assessment of launch and on-orbit imagery to determine the health of Endeavour's heat shield.

Before docking, with the shuttle about 600 feet directly below the space station, Polansky guided the orbiter through a 360-degree nine-minute back flip as the two spacecraft crossed the Atlantic Ocean, allowing the lab crew to photograph the orbiter's protective heat shield with 400-mm and 800-mm telephoto lenses.

There were no obvious signs of ascent impact damage seen in spectacular downlinked television views from the station, but it will take engineers at Johnson a day or more to analyze the 300 or so digital images shot by Padalka and Barratt.

Endeavour's external tank lost an unusual amount of foam insulation from its central "intertank" region during the climb to space, creating debris that struck the shuttle in at least two areas during the period when the shuttle is must vulnerable to impact damage.

Engineers do not believe the damage seen Wednesday is serious, but as with all post-Columbia shuttle missions, NASA managers will not give the ship a clean bill of health until the ongoing analysis is complete.

Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: NARRATED PREVIEW OF RENDEZVOUS AND DOCKING PLAY

VIDEO: TUESDAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: PREVIEW ANIMATION OF HEAT SHIELD INSPECTIONS PLAY

VIDEO: FLIGHT DAY 1 HIGHLIGHTS MOVIE PLAY
VIDEO: THE FULL STS-127 LAUNCH EXPERIENCE PLAY
VIDEO: INSIDE MISSION CONTROL DURING LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: VAB ROOF PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PRESS SITE PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PAD PERIMETER PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: BEACH TRACKER PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: UCS-23 TRACKER PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PLAYALINDA BEACH PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: BANANA CREEK VIP SITE PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: PAD FRONT CAMERA PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: WEST TOWER PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 070 PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA 071 PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA CS-1 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA CS-2 PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAY: CAMERA CS-6 PLAY

VIDEO: SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR BLASTS OFF! PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: STS-127 POST-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
VIDEO: FOOTAGE OF FUEL TANK AFTER JETTISON PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS REACH PAD 39A PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: CREW DEPARTS QUARTERS FOR LAUNCH PAD PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS DON SPACESUITS FOR LAUNCH PLAY | HI-DEF

VIDEO: WEATHER SCRUBS LAUNCH AGAIN PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: CREW ARRIVES AT PAD 39A ON MONDAY PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: CREW DEPARTS QUARTERS ON MONDAY PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS SUIT UP ON MONDAY PLAY | HI-DEF

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VIDEO: CREW DEPARTS QUARTERS ON SUNDAY PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS SUIT UP ON SUNDAY PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: NARRATED SUMMARY SHUTTLE'S PREPARATIONS PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: NARRATED SUMMARY PAYLOADS' PREPARATIONS PLAY | HI-DEF

VIDEO: LIGHTNING STRIKES POSTPONE ENDEAVOUR LAUNCH PLAY
VIDEO: FRIDAY'S PRE-LAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE PLAY
VIDEO: THURSDAY'S STATUS REPORT ON THE COUNTDOWN PLAY
VIDEO: COUNTDOWN PREVIEW AND WEATHER BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: ASTRONAUTS RETURN TO CAPE FOR LAUNCH PLAY | HI-DEF

VIDEO: NO LEAKS FOUND DURING SPECIAL TEST PLAY
VIDEO: EXPLANATION OF THE HYDROGEN LEAK AND THE REPAIR PLAY

VIDEO: POST-SCRUB NEWS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: FIRING ROOM UPDATE WITH LAUNCH DIRECTOR PLAY
VIDEO: SCRUB NO. 2 DECLARED DUE TO HYDROGEN LEAK PLAY

VIDEO: SUNDAY'S UPDATE FROM MISSION MANAGEMENT TEAM PLAY
VIDEO: LEAK POSTPONES SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR LAUNCH PLAY

VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE OF SUN SETTING OVER PAD 39A PLAY
VIDEO: ANOTHER TIME-LAPSE OF GANTRY RETRACTION PLAY
VIDEO: TIME-LAPSE OF LAUNCH PAD TOWER ROLLBACK PLAY

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VIDEO: PRE-LAUNCH INTERVIEW WITH DOUG HURLEY PLAY
VIDEO: PRE-LAUNCH INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS CASSIDY PLAY
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VIDEO: FLIGHT READINESS REVIEW SETS LAUNCH DATE PLAY

VIDEO: PAD 39A GANTRY ENCLOSES SHUTTLE PLAY | HI-DEF
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VIDEO: SHUTTLE AND STATION PROGRAM UPDATE PLAY
VIDEO: THE STS-127 MISSION OVERVIEW BRIEFING PLAY
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VIDEO: PAD 39B AND ITS LAST SPACE SHUTTLE PLAY | HI-DEF
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