NASA transmits first hip-hop song to Venus via deep space network

On Tuesday, NASA announced a historic event: transmitting the song "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" by hip hop icon Missy Elliott to Venus through its deep space network. The transmission occurred at 10:05 a.m. PDT on Friday, July 12, originating from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

This marks the first time a hip hop song has been sent into outer space, following the Beatles' "Across The Universe," which NASA transmitted in 2018.

Brittany Brown, director of the Digital and Technology Division at NASA, commented, "Both space exploration and Missy Elliott's art have been about pushing boundaries."

NASA specified that the song traveled approximately 254 million kilometers from Earth to Venus, a planet favored by the artist herself. The radio frequency signal traveled at the speed of light, taking approximately 14 minutes to reach its destination.

The transmission utilized the 34-meter-wide Deep Space Station 13 (DSS-13), also known as "Venus," located at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow, California. This antenna was named in honor of the Venus Radar Experiment conducted in March 1961.

Reflecting on this unique collaboration with NASA, Missy Elliott expressed her excitement, stating, "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. I chose Venus because it symbolizes strength, beauty, and empowerment and I am so humbled to have the opportunity to share my art and my message with the universe."

In parallel, NASA is gearing up for two upcoming missions to Venus: DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) slated for launch by 2029, and VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy) expected to launch by 2031. Additionally, NASA and the DSN are collaborating with the European Space Agency’s Venus mission, EnVision, to further explore and study the planet.