The song was sent by the space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, through the space agency’s large telecommunication service, the Deep Space Network (DSN). It was physically transmitted by the DSN’s colossal DSS-13 radio dish antenna (nicknamed Venus, what?) at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow.
Supa-flying to Venus!
For the first time, a hip-hop song was transmitted #OutOfThisWorld. @MissyElliott‘s “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” traveled 158 million miles to Venus through NASA’s Deep Space Network from @NASAJPL‘s Deep Space Station 13 in California: https://t.co/Gg5ibm80hb pic.twitter.com/BwsdTNNqCv
— NASA (@NASA) July 15, 2024
Elliott, who is (fittingly) currently on her Out of This World tour, celebrated the moment on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday.
“My song ‘The Rain’ has officially been transmitted all the way to Venus, the planet that symbolizes strength, beauty and empowerment,” she wrote, “The sky is not the limit, it’s just the beginning 👽👽”
YOOO this is crazy! We just went #OutOfThisWorld with @NASA and sent the FIRST hip hop song into space through the Deep Space Network. My song “The Rain” has officially been transmitted all the way to Venus, the planet that symbolizes strength, beauty and empowerment. The sky is… pic.twitter.com/g6HofNQSt1
— Missy Elliott (@MissyElliott) July 15, 2024
It’s the second song NASA has beamed into space using the DSN, following The Beatles’ “Across the Universe” which embodied exactly that in 2008.
The collaboration with Elliot was pitched by Brittany Brown, director of the Digital and Technology Division at NASA HQ’s Office of Communications in Washington. “Both space exploration and Missy Elliott’s art have been about pushing boundaries,” said Brown in a press statement. “Missy has a track record of infusing space-centric storytelling and futuristic visuals in her music videos, so the opportunity to collaborate on something out of this world is truly fitting.”
Part of NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program, the DSN uses its massive antennas to send radio signals into deep space. It’s made for communicating with spacecrafts, tracking missions, and receiving that sweet, sweet deep space data — NASA tracks the legendary Voyager 1 spacecraft using the DSN.
What better moment than this to turn up “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)”? Like there’s a bad moment…
