Washington - Space shuttle Endeavour closed in on the International Space Station on Sunday after a trouble-free journey since blastoff from Cape Canaveral.

The shuttle's seven-member crew spent the first 24 hours of their mission checking for damage that might have arisen from Saturday's launch but found the craft in top condition, the US space agency NASA said.

Later Sunday, the astronauts were set to prepare Endeavour for its docking with the ISS, expected around 2204 GMT.

The shuttle is carrying equipment to renovate the ISS, which on November 20 marks its 10th anniversary.

Work will focus on preparing the space station for expansion and delivering items to make it a more comfortable place to live.

The upgrades to the space station's living space should enable it to house more residents on longer-term assignments after the retirement in 2010 of the US fleet of aging reusable orbiters.

New additions include an exercise machine, a second toilet, two sleep stations and a water recycling pump to turn urine into drinking water. The shuttle crew is also bringing two food warmers and a larger refrigerator.

The 15-day mission will include four spacewalks to repair joints that allow the station's solar panels to rotate toward the sun. Astronauts will also install a nitrogen tank, a global positioning system and a camera outside the ISS

The payload will be delivered in the reusable, Italian-built Leonardo module that will be transferred to the ISS using the shuttle's robotic arm. Astronauts will later fill it with old equipment and scientific samples and bring it back to Earth aboard Endeavour.

Endeavour astronaut Sandra Magnus will stay behind as a member of the ISS crew while Greg Chamitoff will return to Earth with the rest of the crew after more than five months in space. (dpa)