The historic Atlantis space mission got off to a flying start with the space shuttle docking safely at the orbiting International Space Station (ISS), Sunday, to deliver a year's worth of vital supplies to those manning the $100 billion orbital outpost - a contingency plan in case the commercial companies hired to take over supply runs to the station encounter delays with their new vehicles.
Start the slideshow to watch the beautiful and rare photos of space taken by ISS and Atlantis crew members.
The space shuttle Atlantis goes through a backflip rotation to expose the heat shield to International Space Station crew members, who will snap high resolution digital photographs of the orbiter's thermal shield as the shuttle approaches the station for docking in this still image from NASA TV July 10, 2011ReutersThe space shuttle Atlantis is seen with earth in the background as it draws near the International Space Station for docking in this image from NASA TV July 10, 2011ReutersThe International Space Station is seen in the crosshairs of the mating adapter mounted in the space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay as the shuttle approaches the station for docking in this sequential still image from NASA TV July 10, 2011ReutersThe space shuttle Atlantis goes through a backflip rotation to expose the heat shield to International Space Station crew members, who will snap high resolution digital photographs of the orbiter's thermal shield as the shuttle approaches the station for docking in this still image from NASA TV July 10, 2011ReutersThe space shuttle Atlantis is seen with part of the structure of the International Space Station in the foreground and the earth in the background as it approaches the station for docking in this still image from NASA TV July 10, 2011ReutersThe International Space Station is seen in the crosshairs of the pressurized mating adapter mounted in the space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay as the shuttle approaches the station for docking in this still image from NASA TV July 10, 2011ReutersThe space shuttle Atlantis is seen docked to the International Space Station with the earth in the background in this image from NASA TV July 10, 2011ReutersThe space shuttle Atlantis is seen attached to the International Space Station moments after docking in this image from NASA TV July 10, 2011ReutersThe space shuttle Atlantis is seen docked to the International Space Station with the earth in the background in this image from NASA TV July 10, 2011ReutersSpace shuttle Atlantis Commander Chris Ferguson and station flight engineer Ron Garan hug as International Space Station Commander Andrey Borisenko floats in the background after docking and hatch opening between the two spacecraft in this image from NASA TV July 10, 2011ReutersThe crews of the space shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station greet each other after docking and hatch opening in this image from NASA TV July 10, 2011Reuters
