For the first time since 2011, the U.S. will be going back into space Wednesday afternoon and you can watch the launch of it.

NASA ended their space program in 2011 due to safety and cost concerns. Since then, U.S. astronauts have been paying Russia to catch rides with them on their spacecrafts, according to CNN Business. However, in recent years, Elon Musk's SpaceX company has been working with NASA to go back in space and today is that day. This goes down in history as the first private company to send people into space.

The Flacon 9 rocket will blast off the two U.S. astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, in the Crew Dragon capsule from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. If all goes to plan, they're expected to launch at 4:33 p.m. ET. If bad weather occurs, they'll try again on May 30 or 31.

CNN says both men plan on spending 1-3 months in space.

So the question remains, what's the mission? Demo-2 will test if SpaceX can get the green light to be used as an official space craft in the future.

The other question: is it safe during a pandemic? Definitely. Both astronauts had to quarantine and get tested for COVID-19 twice. NASA has also implemented temperature checks, deep cleaning, and social distancing in the control rooms.

Now the final question: how do I watch it? You can watch it live on TV or stream it on NASA's website here. Live views of the rocket and coverage will begin at 12 p.m. You can also watch it on SpaceX's website, or by watching the live video here:

Enter your number to get our free mobile app

Inspirational Quotes From Gerald R. Ford

More From 99.1 WFMK