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The stars above and on Earth aligned as an inspirational message and lyrics from the song \u201cThe Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)\u201d by hip-hop artist Missy Elliott were beamed to Venus via NASA\u2019s DSN (Deep Space Network). The agency\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California sent the transmission at 10:05 a.m. PDT on Friday, July 12.<\/p>\n
As the largest and most sensitive telecommunication service of NASA\u2019s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program, DSN has an array of giant radio antennas that allow missions to track, send commands, and receive scientific data from spacecraft venturing to the Moon and beyond. To date, the system has transmitted only one other song into space, making the transmission of Elliott\u2019s song a first for hip-hop and NASA.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth space exploration and Missy Elliott\u2019s art have been about pushing boundaries,\u201d said Brittany Brown, director, Digital and Technology Division, Office of Communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington, who initially pitched ideas to Missy\u2019s team to collaborate with the agency. \u201cMissy has a track record of\u00a0infusing space-centric storytelling and futuristic visuals in her music videos so the opportunity to collaborate on something out of this world is truly fitting.\u201d<\/p>\n
The song traveled about 158 million miles (254 million kilometers) from Earth to Venus \u2014 the artist\u2019s favorite planet. Transmitted at the speed of light, the radio frequency signal took nearly 14 minutes to reach the planet. The transmission was made by the 34-meter (112-foot) wide Deep Space Station 13 (DSS-13) radio dish antenna, located at the DSN\u2019s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex, near Barstow in California. Coincidentally, the DSS-13 also is nicknamed Venus.<\/p>\n
Elliott\u2019s music career started more than 30 years ago, and the DSN has been communicating with spacecraft for over 60 years. Now, thanks to the network, Elliott\u2019s music has traveled far beyond her Earth-bound fans to a different world. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI still can\u2019t believe I\u2019m going out of this world with NASA through the Deep Space Network when \u201cThe Rain\u201d (Supa Dupa Fly) becomes the first ever hip-hop song to transmit to space!,\u201d said Elliott. \u201cI 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!\u201d<\/p>\n
Two NASA missions, selected in 2021, will explore Venus and send data back to Earth using the DSN. DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging), led out of NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is slated to launch no earlier than 2029. The VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy), launching no earlier than 2031, is lead out of NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. NASA and the DSN are also partnering with the European Space Agency\u2019s Venus mission, Envision. A team at JPL is developing the spacecraft\u2019s Venus Synthetic Aperture Radar (VenSAR).<\/p>\n
In continuous operations since 1963, NASA SCaN\u2019s DSN is composed of three complexes spaced equidistant from each other \u2014 approximately 120 degrees apart in longitude \u2014 around the planet. The ground stations are in Goldstone in California, Madrid, and Canberra in Australia.<\/p>\n
The Deep Space Network is managed by JPL for the SCaN program within the Space Operations Mission Directorate, based at NASA Headquarters. \u00a0<\/p>\n
For more information about NASA\u2019s Deep Space Network, visit:<\/p>\n
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