HOUSTON — Atlantis docked with the international space station yesterday, as engineers continued to review photographs of a section of peeled-back thermal blanket on the space shuttle.

Atlantis commander Rick Sturckow eased the shuttle into the space station’s docking port. Latches fastened the shuttle and orbiting space lab together at 3:36 p.m. EDT.

The shuttle’s two-day chase of the space station ended about 210 miles above southeastern Australia.

It was the first visit this year by a shuttle to the space station. The shuttle was delivering the newest member of the space station’s crew as well as a new segment to the orbiting outpost.

Prior to Atlantis’s arrival, astronaut Danny Olivas took additional photographs from inside the shuttle of the area where the thermal blanket had peeled back. The images were sent to Mission Control for analysis.

NASA engineers are focusing their attention on a gap about 4 inches by 6 inches that was discovered after Friday’s launch from Kennedy Space Center.

Engineers weren’t sure whether stitching on the blanket came loose or whether the blanket, covering a pod of engines near the shuttle’s tail, was hit by debris during launch.

Astronauts inside the space station also took photographs of the shuttle’s belly when Atlantis was 600 feet below the orbiting outpost.

The pictures were taken when Atlantis commander Rick Sturckow maneuvered the shuttle into a 360-degree back flip — part of an inspection technique. Engineers want to make sure there is no damage from launch like the kind that doomed Columbia in 2003.

Hatches connecting the shuttle and space station would not be opened for another 1 1/2 hours until leak checks were done to ensure a tight seal between the two.