With broad smiles and hearty hugs, the six Endeavour astronauts received a warm welcome as they entered the International Space Station just after 2:16 a.m. EST (0716 GMT). The two crews joined into one as the station flew 216 miles above the coast of western Australia. The two vehicles docked about two hours earlier.

"We're happy to see our friends," station commander Jeffrey Williams told his guests after they floated aboard. "Some of us are really happy because we haven't seen many people other than the crew for a long time."

The station is currently home to two American astronauts, two Russian cosmonauts and a Japanese astronaut. The station astronauts said they had made a special "Welcome" sign for their guests and greeted them with hearty laughs, at times saying "Welcome aboard!" and "It's good to see you!"