{"id":796309,"date":"2025-05-26T04:56:04","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T09:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=796309"},"modified":"2025-05-26T04:56:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T09:56:04","slug":"why-the-famous-blue-danube-waltz-is-getting-broadcast-into-deep-space-npr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=796309","title":{"rendered":"Why the famous &#8216;Blue Danube&#8217; waltz is getting broadcast into deep space : NPR"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"storytext\">\n<div id=\"resg-s1-68933\" class=\"bucketwrap image large\">\n<div class=\"imagewrap has-source-dimensions\" data-crop-type=\"\" style=\"&#10;        --source-width: 3008;&#10;        --source-height: 2000;&#10;    \">\n        <picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3008x2000+0+0\/resize\/400\/quality\/85\/format\/webp\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe1%2Fc9%2F301f36834888ac4922bdde9d6d12%2Fcebreros-station.jpg 400w,&#10;https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3008x2000+0+0\/resize\/600\/quality\/85\/format\/webp\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe1%2Fc9%2F301f36834888ac4922bdde9d6d12%2Fcebreros-station.jpg 600w,&#10;https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3008x2000+0+0\/resize\/800\/quality\/85\/format\/webp\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe1%2Fc9%2F301f36834888ac4922bdde9d6d12%2Fcebreros-station.jpg 800w,&#10;https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3008x2000+0+0\/resize\/900\/quality\/85\/format\/webp\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe1%2Fc9%2F301f36834888ac4922bdde9d6d12%2Fcebreros-station.jpg 900w,&#10;https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3008x2000+0+0\/resize\/1200\/quality\/85\/format\/webp\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe1%2Fc9%2F301f36834888ac4922bdde9d6d12%2Fcebreros-station.jpg 1200w,&#10;https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3008x2000+0+0\/resize\/1600\/quality\/85\/format\/webp\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe1%2Fc9%2F301f36834888ac4922bdde9d6d12%2Fcebreros-station.jpg 1600w,&#10;https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3008x2000+0+0\/resize\/1800\/quality\/85\/format\/webp\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe1%2Fc9%2F301f36834888ac4922bdde9d6d12%2Fcebreros-station.jpg 1800w\" data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3008x2000+0+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe1%2Fc9%2F301f36834888ac4922bdde9d6d12%2Fcebreros-station.jpg\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1025px) 650px, calc(100vw - 30px)\" class=\"img\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3008x2000+0+0\/resize\/400\/quality\/85\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe1%2Fc9%2F301f36834888ac4922bdde9d6d12%2Fcebreros-station.jpg 400w,&#10;https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3008x2000+0+0\/resize\/600\/quality\/85\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe1%2Fc9%2F301f36834888ac4922bdde9d6d12%2Fcebreros-station.jpg 600w,&#10;https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3008x2000+0+0\/resize\/800\/quality\/85\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe1%2Fc9%2F301f36834888ac4922bdde9d6d12%2Fcebreros-station.jpg 800w,&#10;https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3008x2000+0+0\/resize\/900\/quality\/85\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe1%2Fc9%2F301f36834888ac4922bdde9d6d12%2Fcebreros-station.jpg 900w,&#10;https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3008x2000+0+0\/resize\/1200\/quality\/85\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe1%2Fc9%2F301f36834888ac4922bdde9d6d12%2Fcebreros-station.jpg 1200w,&#10;https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3008x2000+0+0\/resize\/1600\/quality\/85\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe1%2Fc9%2F301f36834888ac4922bdde9d6d12%2Fcebreros-station.jpg 1600w,&#10;https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3008x2000+0+0\/resize\/1800\/quality\/85\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe1%2Fc9%2F301f36834888ac4922bdde9d6d12%2Fcebreros-station.jpg 1800w\" data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3008x2000+0+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe1%2Fc9%2F301f36834888ac4922bdde9d6d12%2Fcebreros-station.jpg\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1025px) 650px, calc(100vw - 30px)\" class=\"img\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/>\n        <\/picture>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"credit-caption\">\n<div class=\"caption-wrap\">\n<div class=\"caption\" aria-label=\"Image caption\">\n<p>\n                A European Space Agency antenna located at Cebreros, near Avila, Spain, will transmit the waltz into space.<br \/>\n                <b class=\"credit\" aria-label=\"Image credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                    ESA<\/p>\n<p>                <\/b><br \/>\n                <b class=\"hide-caption\"><b>hide caption<\/b><\/b>\n            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>            <b class=\"toggle-caption\"><b>toggle caption<\/b><\/b>\n    <\/div>\n<p>    <span class=\"credit\" aria-label=\"Image credit\"><\/p>\n<p>        ESA<\/p>\n<p>    <\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Johann Strauss II&#8217;s popular orchestral piece &#8220;By the Beautiful Blue Danube&#8221; has been inextricably linked to space since it was used in the 1968 classic film <em>2001: A Space Odyssey.<\/em> <\/p>\n<p>The waltz played as a fictional spaceship docks with a space station, with expansive views of the Earth and the distant stars.<\/p>\n<p>This week, the piece will take a more literal place among the stars when the European Space Agency broadcasts it into space.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra will perform the piece live, while a radio antenna in Spain beams the music out.<\/p>\n<aside id=\"ad-backstage-wrap\" class=\"ad-wrap backstage\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\n<\/aside>\n<div id=\"resnx-s1-5411771-100\" class=\"bucketwrap internallink insettwocolumn inset2col \">\n<div class=\"bucket img\">\n                  <picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3035x3035+785+0\/resize\/100\/quality\/85\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F42%2F98%2F2654780d4590b1022e0adb2e9778%2Fap287755048993.jpg\" data-original=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3035x3035+785+0\/resize\/100\/quality\/100\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F42%2F98%2F2654780d4590b1022e0adb2e9778%2Fap287755048993.jpg\" data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3035x3035+785+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F42%2F98%2F2654780d4590b1022e0adb2e9778%2Fap287755048993.jpg\" data-format=\"webp\" class=\"img lazyOnLoad\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3035x3035+785+0\/resize\/100\/quality\/85\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F42%2F98%2F2654780d4590b1022e0adb2e9778%2Fap287755048993.jpg\" data-original=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3035x3035+785+0\/resize\/100\/quality\/100\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F42%2F98%2F2654780d4590b1022e0adb2e9778%2Fap287755048993.jpg\" data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3035x3035+785+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F42%2F98%2F2654780d4590b1022e0adb2e9778%2Fap287755048993.jpg\" data-format=\"jpeg\" class=\"img lazyOnLoad\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3035x3035+785+0\/resize\/100\/quality\/100\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F42%2F98%2F2654780d4590b1022e0adb2e9778%2Fap287755048993.jpg\" data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3035x3035+785+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F42%2F98%2F2654780d4590b1022e0adb2e9778%2Fap287755048993.jpg\" data-format=\"jpeg\" class=\"img lazyOnLoad\" alt=\"In a darkened night sky, the planets Venus, bottom, and Jupiter are seen as bright orbs above Matthews, N.C., in 2015. \" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/picture>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"BUCKETBLOCK\" -->\n      <\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"BUCKET IMG\" -->\n   <\/div>\n<p><!-- END ID=\"RESNX-S1-5411771-100\" CLASS=\"BUCKETWRAP INTERNALLINK INSETTWOCOLUMN INSET2COL \" --><\/p>\n<p>The &#8220;Blue Danube&#8221; broadcast is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the ESA&#8217;s creation, as well as 200 years since Strauss&#8217; birth.<\/p>\n<p>The waltz was notably absent when NASA launched 27 pieces of music, as well as other sounds and images, on matching &#8220;Golden Records&#8221; on the Voyager 1 and 2 missions in 1977. The Voyager 1 probe is the first human-made object to leave the solar system. Both probes are still flying out into deep space today.<\/p>\n<p>The ESA says it aims to rectify that historical overlook.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The absence of the most famous of all waltzes from the 1977 Voyager Golden Record is a cosmic mistake,&#8221; Norbert Kettner, the director of the Vienna Tourist Board, said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Strauss was from Austria, and the Vienna Tourist Board is helping the space agency arrange the broadcast.<\/p>\n<p>A piece by another famous Austrian composer, Mozart, was included on the Voyager Golden Record.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"edTag\">Transmitting at the speed of light<\/h3>\n<p>The radio antenna in Spain where the piece is being broadcast is about 115 feet across, and is operated by the ESA. It supports uncrewed European missions to study the surface of Mars, create a map of the stars and take up-close pictures of the sun.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, it will take a break from that work.<\/p>\n<aside id=\"ad-secondary-wrap\" class=\"ad-wrap secondary\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The Vienna Symphony Orchestra&#8217;s performance will be livestreamed online. The audio of the performance will be converted into an electromagnetic wave. That wave, which is not audible to humans, will be transmitted into space at the speed of light, in the direction of Voyager 1. The music will be moving so quickly that it will overtake the probe, which was launched in 1977 and left the solar system in 2012, in just 23 hours.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This demonstrates that our technology can transmit not only scientific data but also human art over long distances,&#8221; said Josef Aschbacher, the director general of the ESA, in an announcement about the broadcast.<\/p>\n<p>This is not the first time humans have beamed music deep into space.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, NASA sent the Missy Elliott song &#8220;The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)&#8221; to Venus. And in 2008, NASA celebrated its 50th anniversary by sending &#8220;Across the Universe&#8221; by The Beatles into deep space.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2025\/05\/26\/nx-s1-5411771\/blue-danube-strauss-music-space-esa?rand=771664\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A European Space Agency antenna located at Cebreros, near Avila, Spain, will transmit the waltz into space. ESA hide caption toggle caption ESA Johann Strauss II&#8217;s popular orchestral piece &#8220;By&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":796310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-796309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-npr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=796309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/796310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=796309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=796309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=796309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}