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Almost 50 years after NASA opted to make Chuck Berry one of the first sounds aliens may hear from intelligent life on Earth, the space agency blasted a more contemporary music sampling into space. Missy Elliott’s debut single ‘The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)’ has gotten plenty of radio play since its release in 1997, but nothing quite like this. On Friday, the song was loaded up onto NASA’s ultra powerful Deep Space Network transmitter and beamed toward Venus, making it the first hip-hop song aired in deep space.
Venus is located 158 million miles from Earth, meaning that, traveling at the speed of light, it took the song 14 minutes to arrive at its destination. The second planet from the sun, Venus is named for the goddess of love and is apparently the rap legend’s favorite planet.
“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 in a press release. “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!”
Venus has been the subject of several NASA missions dating back to 1962’s Mariner 2 and will be further explored by two upcoming NASA satellites.
Back in 1977, a pair of golden phonograph records were loaded aboard Voyagers 1 and 2, both of which were tasked with passing by several of the solar system’s planets. Both spacecraft are operational to this day, sending back data from interstellar space. Should an alien stumble across either ship, they will be treated to a recording of Berry’s 1958 classic ‘Johnny B. Goode’.
If ETs don’t have a record player handy, they may still be able to rock out to a classic. In 2008, NASA blasted The Beatles’ ‘Across the Universe’ toward the North Star via the Deep Space Network as part of a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the launch of Explorer 1, the United States’ first satellite.
