Atlantis shuttle closing in on space station

By Irene Klotz

HOUSTON (Reuters) -- Space shuttle Atlantis neared the end of a two-day orbital journey on Saturday, approaching the International Space Station to deliver Europe's first permanent space research laboratory.

The ship, which carries seven astronauts and the Columbus research module, was scheduled to arrive about 12:25 p.m. EST/1725 GMT.

"If the station is off the shuttle's nose, it's hugely bright," radioed Atlantis commander Stephen Frick to Mission Control as the crew got its first glimpse of the glimmering outpost about 40 miles (64 km) away.

"We were wondering if it's all those candles on Peggy's birthday cake," joked astronaut Kevin Ford from Mission Control. The station commander, Peggy Whitson, celebrated her 48th birthday on Saturday.

Before the shuttle docks at the station, Frick planned to gently steer his ship through a 360 degree back-flip so Whitson and her crew aboard the station could photograph the underside of Atlantis' heat shield.

The imagery will be analyzed by engineers at NASA's Houston base to determine if any damage was done during the shuttle's climb into orbit on Thursday.

The inspections are part of NASA's upgraded safety procedures to prevent another disaster like the Columbia in 2003 in which the shuttle was damaged by insulation that fell from its fuel tank during launch. The damage led the shuttle to disintegrate when it reentered Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.

Frick will be parking Atlantis at a new berthing spot, which was repositioned in November.