Atlantis closes in on space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Atlantis and a crack repair team closed in on the international space station Saturday for a 200-mile-high linkup and tuneup.

The shuttle's 17,500-mph chase to reach the space station was due to end just after midnight with a docking above Ukraine.

Commander James Halsell Jr. guided the shuttle as flight controllers in Houston and Moscow prepared the space station for the astronauts' arrival by turning up the thermostat in the chilly outpost and beginning to cleanse its stagnant air.

Halsell and six crew members will be the first humans to enter the space station in a full year.

No one was supposed to return until a critical Russian service module was in place, but with the module grounded until at least July and the space station losing its orbit, NASA dispatched a shuttle crew to replace dying batteries and give the sagging station a boost.

The repairs should allow the space station to keep flying solo, if necessary, through the end of this year.

Despite the urgent nature of their work, the six Americans and one Russian won't be rushing inside. The hatches between the two spacecraft will remain sealed until Monday night.

The crew's first job will be to conduct a spacewalk Sunday night.

During NASA's last visit to the space station a year ago, astronauts failed to properly install a crane on the outside. The crane is flapping back and forth, and needs to be locked securely in place. Jeffrey Williams and James Voss will also attach another crane to the station and replace a broken antenna.

The astronauts will spend the rest of the week working inside the space station, using ear plugs to block the incessant racket from blasting fans on the Russian side. They'll carry small fans to prevent carbon-dioxide buildup back in that module; doctors suspect that's what made the last visitors sick.

Four of six electricity-producing batteries must be replaced, as well as all the fire extinguishers and smoke detectors. Hundreds of other items must be delivered for future crews: tools, exercise equipment, clothing, sewing kits, bungee cords, even a small space station model for TV interviews.

The mission holds special significance for three members of the crew. Voss, Susan Helms and Yuri Usachev consider it a dress rehearsal for what they'll encounter when they move in for good next year.

Just one day into their flight, the astronauts already were experiencing some shuttle trouble.

A valve in Atlantis' left orbital maneuvering engine may be stuck open. The backup valve is working fine, however, as is the engine, which is needed for the return to Earth. As a precaution, Mission Control ordered the crew not to use the left engine until landing day, May 29.

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