NASA beams hip-hop song into deep space for the first time ever

The search for extraterrestrial life has been ongoing for decades. From sending "messages in a bottle" to Jupiter to decoding simulated messages from Mars, astronomers have undertaken numerous projects. This time, without specific intentions of contacting aliens, NASA scientists teamed up with pop star Missy Elliott to send hip-hop music into space. Together, they transmitted an inspiring hip-hop track to Venus, according to IFL Science.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory was able to successfully send transmissions of the song recently using DSN (Deep Space Network). NASA has been successful with its ventures to the moon and is on a mission to go beyond it. Taking advantage of the giant antennas from the network, the team sent across lyrics of Missy Elliott’s “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” around 158 million miles to Venus. NASA noted that, to this date, only one other song has been transmitted into space, making Missy's work the first hip-hop piece ever to get to space.

Brittany Brown, director of the Digital and Technology Division at the Office of Communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington, pitched the idea to Elliott’s team after her opinion that “space exploration and Missy Elliott’s art have been about pushing boundaries.” “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,” she added. NASA also shared a video of their achievement with a caption that read, "'Beep beep, who got the keys to the Jeep? V-r-rrrrrrrooooom!' For the first time ever, we beamed a hip-hop song out of this world!" 

Elliott chose Venus as the destination for her music, revealing it as her favorite planet. She said, “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!” Sharing more about her majestic experience of making this happen, Elliott titled her experience as an unbelievable one. “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!” she exclaimed. The music was sent at the speed of light and took only 14 minutes to reach the planet. 

Delighted Elliott also shared a post on X, to let her fans know about her remarkable achievement. Sharing a glimpse of the song’s official video along with an excited caption, Elliott left her fans jawe-struck with the news. “This is crazy! We just went out of this world 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 not the limit, it’s just the beginning,” she exclaimed. 

Fans flooded the post with congratulations and heartfelt comments. @RatedRnB wrote, “Missy makes history yet again!” @SirRansom hysterically pointed out, “This is so epic! ‘The Rain’ is finally being played for its native people!” @Honesty4urSoul commented, “Now when they come looking for you, lol... be ready for the concert in space!”