(AP) -- Life on board the international space station is busier and more crowded now that it's a full house.
For the first time ever, the space station is accommodating a permanent crew of six, the way it was intended when the first piece flew a decade ago. The population at the orbiting outpost doubled Friday when three new residents moved in.
At a news conference Monday, one of the newcomers described the space station as a surreal world. Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk says it's like being in the middle of a Salvador Dali painting.
U.S. astronaut Michael Barratt says he comes from a family of seven back on Earth. So having a crew of six, versus three, is comfortable and seems normal to him.
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