Space Shuttle Discovery made a perfect docking with the International Space Station on Monday, 2:03 p.m. EDT, when it delivered the second component of the Kibo Japanese laboratory and Greg Chamitoff, the new Expedition 17 crew member.

Prior to the shuttle’s socking with the ISS, Discovery performed a R-bar Pitch Maneuver (RPM) below the ISS, when the ISS crew took photos of the shuttle’s heat shield with 400 and 800 mm lens cameras. Discovery Commander Mark Kelly guided the shuttle as it approached the ISS and performed the RPM maneuver.

The hatches on the ISS and Discovery opened at 2:36 p.m. according to NASA. The two crews prepare for nine days of joint operations, the first of which will begin at around 10:32 a.m. Tuesday.

The STS-124 mission will include three spacewalks to transfer the Orbiter Boom Sensor back to the shuttle from its temporary location at the Station, to install covers and external television equipment on the Japanese Pressurized Module and remove covers on the Remote Manipulator System, and replace a failed hydrogen tank assembly on the station’s truss.

The three spacewalks scheduled to take place during the STS-124 mission will be performed on the fourth, sixth and ninth days by Mission Specialists Mike Fossum and Ron Garan. Pilot Ken Ham will act as the intravehicular officer or spacewalk choreographer, while Mission Specialists Karen Nyberg, Akihiko Hoshide and Greg Chamitoff will operate the shuttle and station robotic arms.

The first spacewalk is expected to be approximately 6 ½ hour long. During that time, Fossum and Garan will prepare the Kibo laboratory for the installation on the station and will assist with the transfer of the Orbiter Boom Sensor System back to the shuttle. At the same time, they will demonstrate a new technique to clean debris from the station’s solar array rotary joint.