 He minors 10, 9, 8. We have a goal for main engine start. We have main engine start. 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. And liftoff, liftoff of the space shuttle, and it has cleared the tower. His living in space is just like living at home, back on Earth. And in many other ways, it's not. One big difference is how gravity seems to act differently. We all know that on Earth, if you drop a ball, gravity causes it to fall to the ground. And if you jump into the air, gravity pulls you back down. We feel the effects of first gravity here in space, too. But because we're all falling around the Earth, it makes it seem like we and everything else around us are floating. It's the same thing that's happening to my friend on this trampoline. Each time he goes up, he falls back towards the ground. Now watch what happens when he lets go of the ball. It falls, too, but because they're falling together, the ball seems to him like it's floating. On the shuttle, we are falling in an endless circle around the Earth. So if you let go of something in space, it doesn't fall to the floor because the floor is falling, too. And if you jump, you won't come back down the way you do on the ground. Can you think of some ways that this could make living in space different from living on Earth? While we're in space, the space shuttle will be our home. It doesn't look much like home, but it has very much the same comforts. Come on, I'll show you. Your house on Earth has a kitchen, and so does the shuttle. Our kitchen uses a convection oven and hot water to warm our food. Each day we're in space, we'll use this kitchen to prepare our breakfast, lunch, and dinner. How many of you have been told to pick up your toys when you're finished playing with them, or they'll get lost? This is true in space, too. At home, you probably have a closet or a box to put your toys and belongings in. Here on the shuttle, we use these drawers for our things. And whenever we finish using something, we put it away so that we'll always know where it is. These boxes with the sliding doors are our beds. They don't look very comfortable, but at the end of a long day, they feel just as good as the bed in your room at home. I know that most of you really want to ask, how do you go to the bathroom in space? Well, we go to the bathroom right here. In what we call the WCS, or waste collection system. Our toilet looks a little different from the one you have at home. That's because going to the bathroom in space is just a little bit different than what we're used to on Earth. This toilet even has places to put our feet so that we won't float away. The big question is, where does the waste go? Well, I'll show you. The shuttle's toilet has an airflow that pulls the waste into the bottom of the toilet, where it stays until it can be properly disposed of later. The toilet also has a urine collection tube that we use when we have to urinate. And that is how we use the bathroom in space. A lot of people ask us, why do you go to space? Well, we go to space for the same reasons that you go to school, to work and to learn. Now, the best way for you to see that is to join us for a day in space. I'm sure you'll have fun, so come on. A day in space begins just like a day on Earth. We first have to get out of bed, and then we have to take care of our personal needs. Back home, a lot of people start their day by taking a bath or a shower. But that doesn't work so well in space. Remember, up here, things float, even water. But we still need to stay clean because no one wants to spend eight days cooped up with someone who hasn't taken a bath. So we take our bath with a soapy washcloth, the same way you would wash your face on Earth. We can even wash our hair with a special shampoo that doesn't eat water. Another part of almost everyone's morning routine is breakfast. It's the most important meal of the day. This is true in space, too. And just because we're in space doesn't mean that we have to eat some kind of weird food. This morning, we're having a balanced breakfast of oatmeal, scrambled eggs, and orange juice. Another thing we still must do, even though we're in space, is brush our teeth. But you can see that up here, it can be more fun. No matter where you are, almost everyone has a job to do each day. At this point in your life, going to school is your job. You are learning the things you'll need to know as you grow up. We have jobs to do on the shuttle, too. And just like you are doing in school, we are learning, too. Our main job on this trip is to study the Earth's atmosphere. This will help us to better understand changes that are taking place in the blanket of air that surrounds the Earth. While we're up here, we are also going to launch and retrieve a satellite. This satellite will help scientists to learn about the sun and how it affects our Earth. When we're working in space, we don't have a lot of room. That means that we have to watch out for each other and work together as a team. It's the same way you work together with your classmates in school. We all know that the best results happen when we work together. But whether we're in space, in school, or anywhere else, we have to remember that little things we do can affect others. Just think what it would be like if a crew member were careless and broke or lost a tool that someone needed for an important experiment. Can you think of some things like that that have happened in your classroom? Daily exercise is important, and on Earth, most of us get all the exercise we need by doing things that are fun. But it's not the same in space. Just think, if you could float everywhere you wanted to go, your arms and legs wouldn't have to work very hard, and soon they would become weak. That's what it's like in space, so we have to exercise each day to keep our bodies strong. Eating dinner in space is something we look forward to, not just because we're hungry, but because it gives us a chance to spend time together when we're not working. Time for relaxation is important, too, so that we can get our minds off our work. What kind of things do you like to do to relax? Well, boys and girls, it's been a long day in space, and I need to get my rest to be ready for a big day tomorrow, too. We're glad that you could spend this time with us, and we hope that you've learned that living in space is not so much different from the things you do every day at home. While we're sleeping, why don't you and your classmates talk about what you've learned today? And can someone hit the lights?