WASHINGTON — Missy Elliott is making history as the first hip-hop artist to have their song sent into deep space.
NASA announced Monday it beamed Elliott's "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" all the way to Venus via the agency's Deep Space Network.
The song traveled about 158 million miles at the speed of light and took nearly 14 minutes to reach Venus, which also happens to be the four-time Grammy winner's favorite planet.
“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!,” said Elliott. “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!”
It's only the second time NASA's Deep Space Network has sent a song into space. The first song, which was fittingly The Beatles' "Across the Universe," was beamed in 2008 toward the North Star, Polaris, located 431 light years from Earth.
Two upcoming missions are scheduled to be the first NASA spacecraft to explore Venus since the 1990s. The DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) mission is slated to launch no earlier than 2029 and will study the top of Venus's atmosphere before dropping a probe to the surface. The VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy) mission is set to launch no earlier than 2031 with the goal of understanding how Venus and Earth's paths diverged.
