HUGS AND KISSES IN ORBIT

The first American to join Russian cosmonauts on the space station Mir was greeted today with gifts of salt and bread, bear hugs and a kiss on the cheek. Astronaut Norman Thagard and his two Russian crewmates floated into the Mir 90 minutes after their capsule docked with the space station at 2:45 a.m. EST. The trio is slated to remain there for three months. NASA plans to send four more astronauts to the Mir beginning in June. TIME Moscow correspondent Terence Nelan says Russians at mission control in Kaliningrad (just outside the city) worked hard on a "flawless" docking, concerned any foul up could have prompted NASA to change its plans for the June mission. Nelan says they celebrated by shaking hands and shooting grinning pictures of each other.