Venus got a little more fly after NASA transmitted Missy Elliott’s “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” over the planet last Friday.
The agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California beamed the song to its Deep Space Network, a web of giant radio antennas that allow missions to track, send commands and receive scientific data from spacecraft. Elliott’s tune is the second song transmitted in space. The first was the Beatles’ “Across the Universe.”
Brittany Brown, director of the digital and technology division for NASA communications, pitched the Portsmouth native as a collaborator for the Deep Space Network.
“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,” Brown said in a news release.
The song traveled about 158 million miles to Venus, and the trip took about 14 minutes at the speed of light. Elliott said she chose Venus because it “symbolizes strength, beauty and empowerment,” and she feels humbled to be the first hip-hop song sent to deep space.
Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com
