Space station welcomes Japanese cargo ship

Japan's first-ever space cargo ship arrived at the international space station Thursday to end a flawless maiden voyage to the orbiting lab.

The gleaming space freighter, dubbed the H-2 Transfer Vehicle 1 (HTV-1), approached the space station from below after a weeklong chase so astronaut Nicole Stott could pluck it from orbit using the outpost's robotic arm as both spacecraft flew 225 miles above western Romania.

Stott and her crewmates marveled at the new spacecraft as they watched it draw near through station windows. She described the 33-foot (10-meter) freighter looked like a "very shiny, gold" spaceship.