Monday was an unpacking day for the astronauts at the ISS (International Space Station).The Endeavour space shuttle docked with the ISS on Sunday, two days after it launched from Florida. Using a giant robot arm, Endeavour’s astronauts grabbed onto a cargo container in the shuttle payload bay late Monday morning for its installation on the space station. 15,000 pounds of equipment will allow the space station to expand from three to six crew members next year. Among the top items to be hauled into the space station we can find a new toilet and a contraption that purifies urine and sweat into drinkable water at the orbiting outpost. In addition, Endeavour delivered an exercise machine, kitchenette and two sleeping compartments.

The shuttle’s crew will be going on four spacewalks to clean and lubricate a solar wing-rotating joint that broke down more than a year ago. Sunday, once the hatch opened between the ISS and the shuttle, the ten astronauts exchanged greetings, wrapping one another in bear hugs and shaking hands. Monday, Mission Control welcomed the space station’s newest resident, Sandra Magnus, to her new home. Magnus will change places with Greg Chamitoff, who will return to Earth with Endeavour after six months in orbit.

On Earth, analysts on the ground continued to search if Endeavour was damaged during liftoff Friday night, using 200 digital images taken by ISS crew members Fincke and Chamitoff. Shuttle officials initially thought a narrow strip of thermal blanket was yanked off during launch, but images showed the blanket was intact. However, the extra precautions that were taken in this case were implemented after the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry in 2003 over Texas, killing all seven crew members.