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At Home on the Space Station

Krikalev, Gidzenko and Shepherd (from left to right) on their way to their new home in space.

Moving days are always exciting, but when the new place is a space station floating 240 miles above Earth, it's a gigantic thrill. On Thursday, American astronaut Bill Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev floated into their temporary new home, the International Space Station. "It's a wonderful day, not for America, not for Russia, but for the people who live on this planet," declared nasa chief Daniel Goldin.

The station's first residents turned on the lights and life-support systems and made sure the toilet was working. Then they settled in for a four-month-long stay. Their mission: to break the station in for future crews. "We're all really glad to be here," said Shepherd, who is the station commander.

The crew traveled to the station in a Russian Soyuz space capsule. It will remain attached to the station and will serve as the crew's emergency escape vehicle. When the Soyuz docked with the station, 500 visitors to Mission Control in Russia erupted in applause. "This is a huge, huge event," said U.S. astronaut Frank Culbertson. "(It's) the beginning of an adventure."

Sixteen countries are working on the $60 billion adventure. They hope to finish building the space station in 2006 and to use it as a laboratory and a base for space exploration until 2016.

Space-shuttle missions will visit the station crew three times in the next four months. They will bring supplies, and in February, a replacement crew.

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