NASA sends Missy Elliott to Venus — kind of

The song was transmitted 158 million miles to Venus
First song performed in space was a Ukrainian song in 1962
The first song played in space with instruments was 'Jingle Bells' in 1965

Updated: Jul 17, 2024 / 03:25 PM CDT

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – MAY 19: Missy Elliott speaks onstage at 2023 Black Music Honors at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre on May 19, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Nykieria Chaney/Getty Images)

(NewsNation) — NASA on Monday said it recently transmitted the lyrics for Missy Elliot’s song “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” from the DSN’s (Deep Space Network) Goldstone complex to Venus, a distance of about 158 million miles.

The agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California sent the transmission at 10:05 a.m. PT on July 12.

It’s the first time, according to the space agency, that a hip-hop song made its way to outer space.

“As the largest and most sensitive telecommunication service of NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program, the DSN has an array of giant radio antennas that allow missions to track, send commands, and receive scientific data from spacecraft venturing to the Moon and beyond,” NASA said. “To date, the system has transmitted only one other song into space, making the transmission of Elliott’s song a first for hip-hop and NASA.”

The first song performed in space was the Ukrainian folk song “Watching the Sky and Thinking a Thought” by cosmonaut Pavlo Popovych on August 12, 1962.

However, “Jingle Bells” became the first song played in space using musical instruments on Dec. 16, 1965. Astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas Stafford played the song on a harmonica and bells during NASA’s Gemini 6A space flight.