Space shuttle docks at station with Japanese lab

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Space shuttle Discovery slipped into aparking spot at the International Space Station on Monday aftera two-day voyage to deliver Japan's first orbital laboratorywhile managers on the ground assessed damage beneath theDiscovery's launch pad.

NASA officials revealed on Monday that bricks and mortarcame off a trench beneath the seaside launch pad at CapeCanaveral in Florida as Discovery blasted off on Saturday, butthey said it could be repaired before the pad is needed next.

The concrete-fortified trench helps to deflect the intenseheat of shuttle launches.

Apart from that problem, the mission -- which is devoted tothe installation of Japan's orbital laboratory -- was smoothsailing. "It's one big happy spaceship now ... Just a flawlessday," said lead shuttle flight director Matt Abbott.

Commander Mark Kelly lined up Discovery's docking port witha matching clasp on the space station's Harmony module, whichserves as the vestibule for visiting space shuttles. Thedocking rings locked together at 2:03 p.m. EDT (7:03 p.m.British time), 210 miles (338 km) above the south Pacific.

"Discovery, arriving," announced station flight engineerGarrett Reisman, ringing a ship's bell in a tradition adoptedfrom the U.S. Navy.

TOILET REPAIR

In addition to delivering Japan's $1 billion (509.4 millionpounds) Kibo laboratory, a 37-foot-long (11-metre-long) modulethat will become the station's largest piece of real estate,Discovery ferried a new station crew member and criticalequipment to repair the outpost's sole toilet.

Greg Chamitoff, a Canadian-born astronaut on his firstspaceflight, will transfer to the station crew, replacingReisman who will return with the shuttle.

Before berthing Discovery, Kelly coaxed his ship through aslow back-flip so Reisman and space station commander SergeiVolkov could snap pictures of Discovery's belly tiles.Engineers will study the images to make sure the shuttlereached orbit with its heat shield unscathed.

Damage inspections have been a routine part of shuttlemissions since the 2003 Columbia disaster which was caused bydamage to the shuttle's heat shield during launch.

More inspections are planned for later in the currentmission. Because Kibo is so big, the shuttle had to fly withoutits laser-studded inspection boom, which is usually used toscour the ship's wings and nose cap for damage.

Instead, the Discovery astronauts used a camera on the endof the shuttle's 50-foot (15-metre) robot arm, but theycouldn't reach the underside of the wings. An inspection boomwas stashed outside the space station by the last shuttle crewfor the Discovery astronauts to use and then return to Earth.

Retrieving the boom will be among the first jobs forspacewalking astronauts Michael Fossum and Ronald Garan, whoare scheduled to make three outings starting on Tuesday toattach Kibo and tackle a variety of maintenance chores.

At Cape Canaveral, NASA managers said debris from the flametrench was strewn around the launch area. They described theincident as "unprecedented," but they said they were confidentit could be repaired in time for October's shuttle mission tothe Hubble Telescope.

"We'll fix it without any problems before October," deputyshuttle program manager LeRoy Cain told reporters at theJohnson Space Center in Houston.

NASA needs two launch pads at the ready for the Hubblemission as there is no escape craft at the telescope whichcould be used in the event that the visiting shuttle could notreturn. A second launch pad, for a backup shuttle, has to beready.

(Additional reporting by Irene Klotz; Editing by Tom Brownand Cynthia Osterman)