-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- design007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueSilicon to Systems: From Soup to Nuts
This month, we asked our expert contributors to weigh in on silicon to systems—what it means to PCB designers and design engineers, EDA companies, and the rest of the PCB supply chain... from soup to nuts.
Cost Drivers
In this month’s issue of Design007 Magazine, our expert contributors explain the impact of cost drivers on PCB designs and the need to consider a design budget. They discuss the myriad design cycle cost adders—hidden and not so hidden—and ways to add value.
Mechatronics
Our expert contributors discuss the advent of mechatronics in PCB design, the challenges and opportunities this creates for circuit board designers, and the benefits—to the employee and the company—of becoming a mechatronics engineer.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - design007 Magazine
NASA Transmits Hip-Hop Song to Deep Space for First Time
July 16, 2024 | NASAEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
![](https://iconnect007.com/application/files/2817/2113/6326/NASA.jpg)
Lyrics for Missy Elliot’s song “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” were transmitted from the DSN’s Goldstone complex to Venus, about 158 million miles (254 million kilometers) away.
The stars above and on Earth aligned as an inspirational message and lyrics from the song “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” by hip-hop artist Missy Elliott were beamed to Venus via NASA’s DSN (Deep Space Network). The agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California sent the transmission at 10:05 a.m. PDT on Friday, July 12.
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. 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.
“Both space exploration and Missy Elliott’s art have been about pushing boundaries,” said Brittany Brown, director, Digital and Technology Division, Office of Communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington, who initially pitched ideas to Missy’s team to collaborate with the agency. “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.”
The song traveled about 158 million miles (254 million kilometers) from Earth to Venus — the artist’s favorite planet. Transmitted at the speed of light, the radio frequency signal took nearly 14 minutes to reach the planet. The transmission was made by the 34-meter (112-foot) wide Deep Space Station 13 (DSS-13) radio dish antenna, located at the DSN’s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex, near Barstow in California. Coincidentally, the DSS-13 also is nicknamed Venus.
Elliott’s music career started more than 30 years ago, and the DSN has been communicating with spacecraft for over 60 years. Now, thanks to the network, Elliott’s music has traveled far beyond her Earth-bound fans to a different world.
“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!”
Two NASA missions, selected in 2021, will explore Venus and send data back to Earth using the DSN. DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging), led out of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is slated to launch no earlier than 2029. The VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy), launching no earlier than 2031, is lead out of JPL. NASA and the DSN are also partnering with the European Space Agency’s Venus mission, Envision. A team at JPL is developing the spacecraft’s Venus Synthetic Aperture Radar (VenSAR).
In continuous operations since 1963, NASA SCaN’s DSN is composed of three complexes spaced equidistant from each other — approximately 120 degrees apart in longitude — around the planet. The ground stations are in Goldstone in California, Madrid, and Canberra in Australia.
The DSN is managed by JPL for the SCaN program within the Space Operations Mission Directorate, based at NASA Headquarters.
Suggested Items
Airbus Built Sentinel-2C Satellite Successfully Launched
09/05/2024 | AirbusThe third Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite has been successfully launched on a Vega rocket from Kourou, French Guiana. The Airbus-built Sentinel-2C satellite will enter service in low Earth orbit at 780 km following initial testing and commissioning.
Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) Selected by NUVIEW to Develop Pathfinder Satellite Bus for Its Space-Based LiDAR Constellation
09/04/2024 | BUSINESS WIRESpace Flight Laboratory (SFL) has been chosen by NUVIEW, a space-technology company specializing in 3D Earth imaging, to develop the bus for Mr. SPoC, its pathfinder small satellite that will demonstrate the capabilities of the world’s first commercial space-based LiDAR constellation.
Foxhole Group Boosts Life Science Capabilities with Accutron Partnership
09/03/2024 | Foxhole GroupFoxhole Group, a private investment firm focused on the industrial sector, announced today that it has added significant depth of expertise in life science and aerospace and defense capabilities to its Foxtronics EMS platform by partnering with the Faldu family to add Accutron to the company’s portfolio of EMS brands.
NASA Awards Intuitive Machines Lunar South Pole Research Delivery
09/03/2024 | NASAA new set of NASA science experiments and technology demonstrations will arrive at the lunar South Pole in 2027 following the agency’s latest CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative delivery award. Intuitive Machines of Houston will receive $116.9 million to deliver six NASA payloads to a part of the Moon where nighttime temperatures are frigid, the terrain is rugged, and the permanently shadowed regions could help reveal the origin of water throughout our solar system.
Marshall, Tech Mahindra to Explore Aerospace and Defense Collaboration
09/02/2024 | MarshallMarshall and Tech Mahindra, a leading global provider of technology consulting and digital solutions to enterprises across industries, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to identify and develop opportunities to work together across the aerospace and defense domains.