RUSSIAN MODULE ZARYA AND US MODULE UNITY ARE SEEN FROM ENDEAVOUR, 1998-12-07 (photo)

The shuttle Endeavour's robot arm moves the Russian power station Zarya (top) into position for docking and the start of assembly work on the $60 billion, 16-nation International Space Station, December 6. Mission specialist Nancy Currie manoeuvred the Zarya within a few inches of the U.S.-built Unity module (bottom), already upright and rising above the shuttle's docking bay, before Endeavour's thrusters force the space station modules to gently collide and their docking mechanisms to grab hold of one another. Endeavour's crew will enter the Unity/Zarya complex on December 10 after spacewalking astronauts complete power couplings between the two modules. They will be the first occupants of a space station that will eventually spread over most of an acre and become one of the brightest obects in the night sky. ELD/FMS