Wednesday, February 06, 2008

NASA beams Beatles' song into space

At 7 PM EST on Feb. 4, NASA is going to celebrated five different anniversaries by beaming the Beatles’ song “Across the Universe” into deep space. Monday will mark the 40th anniversary of the day the song was recorded. Also celebrated will be the anniversaries (this year) of NASA’s founding, the inception of The Beatles and the Explorer 1 launch (the first U.S. satellite), all 50 years old, and the 45th birthday of the Deep Space Network, an international network of antennas that supports missions to explore the universe.

The transmission is being aimed at the North Star, Polaris, 431 light years away from Earth. In a press release, reaction came from Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono. Paul McCartney said “Amazing! Well done, NASA! Send my love to the aliens. All the best, Paul.” The song was principally written by John Lennon, and Yoko Ono said “I see that this is the beginning of the new age in which we will communicate with billions of planets across the universe.”
Additionally, Feb. 4 has been declared “Across The Universe Day” by Beatles fans to commemorate the anniversaries and the public around the world has been invited to participate in the event by simultaneously playing the song at the same time it is transmitted by NASA.-Source AP

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