NASA has made history by transmitting a hip-hop song to deep space for the first time.
The inspirational message and lyrics from Missy Elliott’s song “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” were sent to Venus through NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN).
The transmission took place at 10:05 a.m. PDT on Friday, July 12, from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California.
The DSN, part of NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program, is an array of giant radio antennas that help track, send commands, and receive data from spacecraft traveling to the moon and beyond.
Previously, the DSN has transmitted only one other song into space: The Beatles’ “Across the Universe.” This makes the transmission of Missy Elliott’s song a first for both hip-hop and NASA.
“Both space exploration and Missy Elliott’s art have been about pushing boundaries,” said Brittany Brown, director of the Digital and Technology Division at NASA Headquarters. She proposed the idea to collaborate with Missy Elliott’s team.
“Missy has a track record of using space-themed storytelling and futuristic visuals in her music videos, so this collaboration is a perfect fit.”
The song traveled approximately 158 million miles (254 million kilometers) from Earth to Venus, Missy Elliott’s favorite planet. Transmitted at the speed of light, the radio signal took nearly 14 minutes to reach Venus.
The transmission was made using the 34-meter-wide Deep Space Station 13 (DSS-13) radio dish antenna, located at the DSN’s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow, California. Coincidentally, the DSS-13 is also nicknamed Venus.
Missy Elliott’s music career began over 30 years ago, and the DSN has been communicating with spacecraft for more than 60 years. Thanks to the DSN, Elliott’s music has now traveled far beyond her Earth-bound fans to a different world.
“I still can’t believe I’m going out of this world with NASA through the Deep Space Network when ‘The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)’ becomes the first-ever hip-hop song to transmit to space!” said Elliott.
“I chose Venus because it symbolizes strength, beauty, and empowerment, and I am so humbled to have the opportunity to share my art and message with the universe!”
NASA has two upcoming missions to explore Venus, both selected in 2021. The DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) mission, led by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, is scheduled to launch no earlier than 2029.
The VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy) mission, led by JPL, is set to launch no earlier than 2031. NASA and the DSN are also partnering with the European Space Agency’s Venus mission, EnVision, with JPL developing the spacecraft’s Venus Synthetic Aperture Radar (VenSAR).
Since 1963, NASA’s SCaN’s DSN has been continuously operating. It consists of three complexes spaced equidistantly around the planet, located in Goldstone, California; Madrid, Spain; and Canberra, Australia.
