By Marcia Dunn

Cape Canaveral, Florida - The astronauts aboard the orbiting shuttle and International Space Station will soon part company.

The 13 space travellers have one last job to accomplish together before the hatches between their spacecraft are closed late Monday.

A moving van holding a ton of trash and discarded equipment will be moved back aboard Discovery. The shuttle will undock on Tuesday.

On Monday, shuttle astronaut Jose Hernandez told a TV interviewer his presence in space is proof that by working and studying hard, "any dream can be achieved".

He grew up in a migrant worker family from Mexico. And the station's new resident, Nicole Stott, said she's looking forward to watching the planet over the next three months. She took up a watercolour kit to paint what she's seeing. - Sapa-AP