CAPTION ONLY: DOCKING TUNNEL IN PLACE FOR A SPACE LINKUP

A Russian-built docking tunnel, top, is connected with the space shuttle Atlantis' orbiter docking system Tuesday. In NASA's first major space-station construction job, a rookie astronaut attached the docking tunnel to Atlantis to allow safer linkups with the orbiting Russian outpost Mir. Canadian Chris Hadfield maneuvered a 50-foot shuttle crane from inside Atlantis, completing the critical task as planned and apparently without a hitch. Mir and Atlantis, meeting for the second time in four months, will hook up Wednesday with the docking tunnel. When the shuttle departs three days later, the tunnel will remain attached to Mir, giving future shuttle commanders an additional 15 feet of clearance while parking at the station. Five more dockings are planned over the next two years.