Venus rocks! NASA sends hip-hop song to Earth’s twin at the speed of light

In a new collaboration between music and space exploration, NASA has beamed hip-hop artist Missy Elliott’s iconic song “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” to Venus.

This is a historic first for this genre of space communication. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California used the Deep Space Network (DSN) to send the song’s inspirational message and lyrics to Venus, Elliott’s favorite planet.

The transmission, which traveled about 255 million kilometers at the speed of light, took almost 14 minutes to reach Venus.

This cosmic endeavor utilized the 34-meter-wide parabolic antenna of Deep Space Station 13 (DSS-13), aptly nicknamed “Venus,” located at DSN’s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California.

Missy Elliott is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She is one of the most influential rappers in the industry. Throughout her career, Missy Elliott has won numerous awards, including several Grammy Awards. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019 and was praised for breaking barriers for women in hip hop.

Elliott expressed her excitement about the event, saying, “I still can’t believe I’m leaving this world with NASA via the Deep Space Network when ‘The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)’ is the first hip-hop song ever to be transmitted into space!” She chose Venus as her destination because to her it symbolizes strength, beauty and self-determination.

This unique collaboration aligns with NASA’s upcoming missions to Venus, including DAVINCI and VERITAS, scheduled for launch in 2029 and 2031, respectively. These missions will rely on the DSN to transmit critical data to Earth, underscoring the network’s critical role in space exploration.

Brittany Brown, director of digital and technology in NASA’s communications office, emphasized the synergy between space exploration and Missy Elliott’s art, pointing out that the artist has incorporated space-related elements into her music videos in the past.

The broadcast of “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” is only the second time that the DSN has sent music into space, following the Beatles’ “Across the Universe” in 2008.

This event not only celebrates the interface between music and space technology, but also demonstrates the capabilities of the DSN to enable communication with distant celestial bodies.

As Missy Elliott’s music reaches new frontiers, this collaboration between NASA and the hip-hop icon demonstrates the power of art and science to inspire and push boundaries both on Earth and beyond.