Shuttle Discovery Docks at Space Station

"Colbert" treadmill arrives in new home

Space shuttle Discovery docked at the international space station on Sunday night -- with the universe set to get a little bit slimmer.

The shuttle's docking was made more difficult because one of its small thrusters had to be shut down for a leak, The Associated Press reported. Commander Rick Sturckow had to use bigger, more powerful primary thrusters, a backup method that had never been tried before. But Sturckow had trained for the possibility and NASA said the docking went well. There were no early indications of launch damage to the shuttle.

The shuttle's crew of seven is set to drop off thousands of pounds of equipment, including a treadmill named after comedian Stephen Colbert.  The Comedy Central star posted a message on Colbertnation.com Saturday that said "the universe just got a little bit slimmer." 

Nicole Stott, the newest astronaut to join the space station radioed home "big space hugs" to her 7-year-old-son. Her team will perform three spacewalks to replace an ammonia tank and conduct other maintenance. Their first spacewalk is set for Tuesday.

Read More: MSNBC 

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