Houston ? Life in space returned Thursday to as close to normal as it has been since the Columbia disaster three years ago.

After the space shuttle Discovery docked with the international space station, the orbiting outpost was fully staffed with three crew members for the first time since 2003. European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter arrived on the shuttle for a six-month stay.

And the news for Discovery also was reminiscent of more carefree days: NASA found no major problems with the shuttle’s heat shield.

Pictures taken by the space station crew, as Discovery approached for the linkup, uncovered no serious concerns with the thermal tiles, said deputy shuttle program manager John Shannon.

Before Discovery docked with the station Thursday, commander Steve Lindsey flew the shuttle into a back-flip maneuver so the space station crew could take photographs of tiles on Discovery’s belly.