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MS. STILSON:  Daniel from New Plymouth asks what do the astronauts do in the last five days before launch?

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MS. HIRE:  Well, it's actually, again, a very exciting time because you're getting closer to actually doing that thing that you've

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been preparing for, for so many years. Just the travel to the Kennedy Space Center is a big milestone for us. The crew is in quarantine.

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We don't want anyone to catch a cold or any type of illness that they can spread to the rest of the crew or that might degrade

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their own performance during the flight. So we keep them quarantined to make sure that they're not exposed to germs or viruses.

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However, there are certain people who are cleared in and able to interact with the astronauts, including a very few of their family members.

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Once they come to the Kennedy Space Center and they're within this short period of time before the flight, they go through the final

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updates for the mission, for the things that may have changed, do a few more rehearsals.

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For instance, the crew will be flying Shuttle Training Aircraft where they practice the final approach and landing of the Space Shuttle

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and just to remind them of this and get a couple more practices in before they actually fly.

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And then get a very short period of time to actually relax with some close family members before they go off and,

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again, just start accomplishing all these tasks that they've been preparing for, for years.

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