Missy Elliott: Her Music Reaches All the Way to Venus

Music is chosen as a message for any alien civilizations. So on board the probes Voyager 1 And 2spacecraft, sent into orbit in 1977, destined for the edges of the solar system and beyond, are found two twin copies of the Golden Recordthe gold record that, among the many sounds that recall our culture and our planet, contains a selection of various visual works of art born of the genius and our planet and some musical pieces that represent different cultures and eras. A sort of business card of our life on Earth in case the spaceships were intercepted by alien civilizations. Then there is the doubt of how the extraterrestrials could discover the contents of the records received. The risk is that they end up in an alien laboratory forgotten and perhaps mocked for technological obsolescence. If they manage to listen to them then there is the unknown of appreciation … who knows, they might not like what they have heard …

Aside from this expedition into the unknown, NASA recently sent another musical piece into space: the first hip hop song to go beyond the Earth’s atmosphere but travel inside the Solar System.

On July 12, thanks to the US Space Agency. “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” Of Missy Elliott It traveled approximately 158 million miles from Earth to Venus, covering the distance in just under 14 minutes via the space agency’s Deep Space Network (DSN).

“YOOO, this is crazy!” the rapper wrote in an Instagram post celebrating the mission’s success. “We just went #OutOfThisWorld with NASA and sent the FIRST hip hop song into space via the Deep Space Network. My song “The Rain” has officially been beamed to Venus.”

But why was Venus chosen? Because it’s Missy’s favorite, obviously. “It symbolizes strength, beauty, and empowerment,” adds the rapper, who concludes by saying: “The sky is not the limit, it’s just the beginning.”

In fact, the American singer’s 1997 solo debut single is not the first song ever that humanity has broadcast into space, via the airwaves, in the hope that it will be intercepted, listened to and appreciated by any unknown intelligent life form. Already in 2008, NASA used the DSN to broadcast the track of the Beatlesappropriately named, “Across the Universe” “directing it” towards the Pole Star.

The DSN is a broadcast system consisting of several giant radio antennas and has been used to communicate with spacecraft and receive scientific data from the Moon and beyond. Its use predates Missy Elliott’s career by about 30 years.

“Both space exploration and Missy Elliott’s art are about pushing boundaries,” says Brittany Brown, the director of NASA Headquarters in Washington who originally pitched the idea to Missy’s team. “Missy has a long history of infusing space-centric storytelling and futuristic imagery into her music videos, so the opportunity to collaborate on something out of this world is truly fitting.”

Sending Missy Elliott’s song to the specific space address anticipates some missions destined to reach Venus in the next decade and which have as their goal the discovery of the possibility of life on the surface of the planet, which does not enjoy exactly “human” temperatures. Perhaps the hope is that these alien forms become fans of Elliott and welcome our explorations in a benevolent way.

Returning to the Golden Records sent into space, let us recall the musical content of the two discs (which also include original sounds from the Earth) listed on the NASA website.

• Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F. First Movement, Munich Bach Orchestra, Karl Richter, conductor. 4:40
• Java, court gamelan, “Kinds of Flowers,” recorded by Robert Brown. 4:43
• Senegal, percussion, recorded by Charles Duvelle. 2:08
• Zaire, Pygmy girls’ initiation song, recorded by Colin Turnbull. 0:56
• Australia, Aborigine songs, “Morning Star” and “Devil Bird,” recorded by Sandra LeBrun Holmes. 1:26
• Mexico, “El Cascabel,” performed by Lorenzo Barcelata and the Mariachi México. 3:14
• “Johnny B. Goode,” written and performed by Chuck Berry. 2:38
• New Guinea, men’s house song, recorded by Robert MacLennan. 1:20
• Japan, shakuhachi, “Tsuru No Sugomori” (“Crane’s Nest,”) performed by Goro Yamaguchi. 4:51
• Bach, “Gavotte en rondeaux” from the Partita No. 3 in E major for Violin, performed by Arthur Grumiaux. 2:55
• Mozart, The Magic Flute, Queen of the Night aria, no. 14. Edda Moser, soprano. Bavarian State Opera, Munich, Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor. 2:55
• Georgian SSR, chorus, “Tchakrulo,” collected by Radio Moscow. 2:18
• Peru, panpipes and drum, collected by Casa de la Cultura, Lima. 0:52
• “Melancholy Blues,” performed by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven. 3:05
• Azerbaijan SSR, bagpipes, recorded by Radio Moscow. 2:30
• Stravinsky, Rite of Spring, Sacrificial Dance, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky, conductor. 4:35
• Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, Prelude and Fugue in C, No.1. Glenn Gould, piano. 4:48
• Beethoven, Fifth Symphony, First Movement, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, conductor. 7:20
• Bulgaria, “Izlel je Delyo Hagdutin,” sung by Valya Balkanska. 4:59
• Navajo Indians, Night Chant, recorded by Willard Rhodes. 0:57
• Holborne, Paueans, Galliards, Almains and Other Short Aeirs, “The Fairie Round,” performed by David Munrow and the Early Music Consort of London. 1:17
• Solomon Islands, panpipes, collected by the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Service. 1:12
• Peru, wedding song, recorded by John Cohen. 0:38
• China, ch’in, “Flowing Streams,” performed by Kuan P’ing-hu. 7:37
• India, raga, “Jaat Kahan Ho,” sung by Surshri Kesar Bai Kerkar. 3:30
• “Dark Was the Night,” written and performed by Blind Willie Johnson. 3:15
• Beethoven, String Quartet No. 13 in B flat, Opus 130, Cavatina, performed by Budapest String Quartet. 6:37