Want to stay on top of all the space news? Follow @universetoday on Twitter

Despite tensions on the ground between the United States and Russia, officials say that its business as usual on the International Space Station. The three people launching to space today, in fact, are from both countries:Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), andSteve Swanson from NASA.

As has been the habit lately, the Expedition 39/40 crew will take a faster route to the International Space Station that see launch and docking happen in the same day, should all go to plan. It all begins with the launch at 5:17 p.m. EDT (9:17 p.m. UTC) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, with docking scheduled to happen at 11:04 p.m. EDT (3:04 a.m. UTC).

Bear in mind that schedules are subject to change, so its a good idea to watch NASA TV (see video above) well before each milestone to see if things are happening on time. Once the crew arrives at station, one big question is if theyll do spacewalks when they get there.

Last July, Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano experienced a severe water leak in his NASA spacesuit that sent the crew scrambling back to the station. While Parmitano emerged physically all right, the agency opened an investigation and suspended all non-essential activities. A report was issued in February and the agency pledged to deal with all the urgent items quickly.

Spacewalks are planned for Expedition 40, but only if these urgent items are cleared in time for that. (That expedition begins in May and will include NASA astronauts Alex Gerst, Reid Wiseman andMaxim Suraev.)

Steve Swanson, commander of Expedition 40, during a spacewalk on 2007 shuttle mission STS-117. Credit: NASA

Elizabeth Howell is the senior writer at Universe Today. She also works for SPACE.com, Astronomers Without Borders, Space Exploration Network, the NASA Lunar Science Institute, NASA Astrobiology Magazine and LiveScience, among others. Career highlights include watching three shuttle launches, and going on a two-week simulated Mars expedition in rural Utah. You can follow her on Twitter @howellspace or contact her at her website.

Tagged as: alexander skvortsov, expedition 39, expedition 40, oleg artemyev, Roscosmos, steve swanson

More here:

Launch Alert! Three People Set For Space Station Flight Today Heres How To Watch Live