In Catherine's diary she tells us what she's been learning at Space School and also what she's being doing just for fun - American style!

"Hey y'all,

It's my last day in America!

There are only three students left here now.

It was very upsetting, saying goodbye to all the wonderful friends that I've made here.

Meeting up again

Most of us shed a tear at least once last night at Mamacitas (a Mexican restaurant) - it was the last time that we would ever be all together!

Although many of us have already started to make plans for meeting up.

We finished all our projects on time, and even went to the cinema together in the evening.

First baseball game

On Saturday we had time to go shopping again in the American malls, and then in the evening we all went to see a baseball game, the Astros vs Montreal.

I had never seen a baseball game before, so it was a whole new experience!

It took me until the end of the game to figure out the rules.

Final mission

On Sunday we did our team presentations in the University of Houston-Clear Lake theatre.

It was very informative, because we got to see what the other teams had been working on during the weeks, and we also got to see how all the different teams' work came together to create our final mission.

Sing-a-long

But, it was also a lot of fun, as each team had to perform two songs, one before their presentation, and one after!

My team - the 'working there' team sang: Blue Work Boots, or Blue Suede Shoes - by Elvis and These Boots are Made for Working (Walking!).

It was a lot of fun, and no-one felt nervous or agitated because it was all done in front of friends.

I will have to stop writing now, or I may end up crying over the friends that I'll miss."

"Since I last wrote we've been working very hard on our projects, and have now finished the work and have completed our presentations.

Each of the groups had to put together a 20- minute PowerPoint presentation that showed the work that their team had been doing - and their part of the mission.

Mars rover

We called our team the "Dr Martians", with the slogan "Put on your working boots" - as we are the 'working there' team.

We have designed a number of different things for use on Mars, including a range of different rovers, a Mars suit, a weather station and dust storm sensors.

Fun-filled days

We have been working on this project since Monday morning, and have also been having lectures from various astronauts, scientists and engineers.

"Eight days, and I'm now feeling like an American!

Our first week was spent mainly on visiting important areas, and on having fun and getting to know the other students.

We've been to the University of Houston- Clear Lake, Houston Museum of Natural Science, on a tour of the Nasa Johnson Space Centre (it was amazing!)

African students

We've also had a video conference with the students from the African Space School, in Namibia.

It was amazing to be able to talk with people so far away, interested in the same projects, and it was also interesting to see the ways that they do things differently on their program.

Flight director's chair

"Wow, America is amazing!

It was my first flight on Saturday and it was breath-taking - being between the clouds.

I flew from Birmingham to Newark (in New York) and that took seven hours, then we flew from Newark to Houston, that took four hours.

As I walked out of the airport, I was met by the immense heat and humidity of Houston - my glasses actually steamed-up!

Astronaut's family

The next morning I was picked up by Scott Kelly, who I am now staying with (he's an American astronaut), and taken to the home he shares with his family; Leslie, his wife, Samantha (Sammi) his nine-year-old daughter, and Charlotte, his 10-month-old daughter.

I feel so privileged to be able to stay with such a great family.

Everything here is so different, I was surprised to see what appeared to be giant upside-down leeks! It turns out that they actually hold water, and are used to increase the water pressure.

It's also so much flatter here than in Wales - not a hill in sight!

Tigers and giraffes

On the Sunday, Rebeka Venters from Scotland arrived, she is also staying with the Kelly family, she was exhausted.

On Monday we met all the other students - it was fantastic.

Everyone is so different, for example, when I was talking to some of the other students about the wildlife in their areas, I was telling them about foxes and badgers, whereas some people were talking about lions, tigers and giraffes!

Blue team

On Tuesday we had interviews, so that we could be put into groups, white - living on Mars, red - getting to Mars, blue - working on Mars, and yellow - logistics.

The interviews were very casual, and were more about getting to know each other.

I have been chosen to be in the blue team, and have been given t-shirts of that colour in order for us to be able to distinguish between the groups.

Butterfly centre

Today we visited the Houston Museum of Natural Science, and Butterfly Centre - it was loads of fun, but we had to wait outside of the museum in the sun for around half an hour, not a good thing over here!

This evening we're having a pool party with Sara (from Italy) and Rachael (from Kentucky), who are staying with a family near us.