“This expedition is a milestone in space station history. So the first important objective is to establish the Space Station as a living and working place for six people. Other objectives are to continue the assembling and construction of the space station. There are a couple more modules that need to be added. We will help prepare for that. And then, also, to do research and development,” says ISS 20th mission crew member Robert Thirsk. “We built the space station to be a scientific laboratory in space. With six people on board we are going to help fulfill that promise.”

The two astronauts – a Canadian and a Belgian – along with a Russian commander, have been learning to live and work together in space for months. And now all three say they act like a team – although each of them will have their own separate tasks.

“Everybody will be charged with their own responsibilities. Russians will work on Russia's scientific programme, Europeans – for the European one, while the Canadian and U.S. astronauts will work on American science. But, of course, they all are interchangeable,” says Yury Gidzenko from the Gagarin training center.

The crew members believe they're ready for any emergency on board and know what to do if something goes wrong in space.

But during those tests they have to prove it – again and again.

“Here on Earth we are trying to make the cosmonauts ready for what they have to deal with in space – that includes the psychological preparation for take-off and landing. Starting from tomorrow, contact with the outside world will be limited – they won't be able to move from place to place and we will be monitoring what they eat,” says Aleksandr Vasin, the doctor for the ISS crew.

There are two full-scale mock ups at the Gagarin center right outside Moscow – one of the Soyuz spacecraft, and another of the Russian part of the ISS.

During the exam, the cosmonaut will have to demonstrate coordination and cooperation in all sorts of situations, including emergency ones.

The exams are an exciting event in the life of every cosmonaut. After their results, a commission will decide whether the crew members are ready to go into space or not.

The upcoming expedition to the ISS has already been labeled as a new era in space exploration. For the first time in its existence, the space station will see the increase of its permanent crew members from three to six people.

So, if everything goes well for the cosmonauts, they will join another three colleagues in orbit on the 27th of May. The crew will then work together for the next six months.

A representative of Russia’s Roscosmos space corporation explained that it has always been Russia’s goal to have more people working on the ISS. However, this will mean that space tourism will have to be sacrificed – at least for a while.