NASA to Send Our Fellow Aliens a Copy of The Beatles' “Across the Universe” Song

The radio transmission will be aimed towards the Polaris star, commonly known as the North Star, which is located 431 light years away from Earth, and will have the role to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the day when The Beatles recorded the song and, at the same time, five decades since NASA launched its first satellite into space, Explorer 1, and the foundation of the Deep Space Network, representing an international collaboration between radio observatories around the world to support missions for exploring the universe.

This is the second time when NASA engages in such actions, the first transmission
of this kind taking place in 2005 when it relayed a Beatles concert during the time Paul McCartney was playing the song 'Good Day Sunshine,' towards the International Space Station. In the same concert, the crew members of the ISS were also able to listen to the 'Here Comes the Sun', 'Ticket to Ride' and 'A hard Day's Night' songs.

In fact, the 4th of February was declared, by the Beatles fans, the 'Across The Universe Day' to commemorate the anniversaries. NASA has proposed the song to be played simultaneously with the transmission all over the world, in sign of participation to the event. The engineers involved in the transmission are mostly senior NASA employees, and some of the biggest fans of The Beatles in the agency. Network program executive at NASA Headquarters, Dr. Barry Geldzahler says he's been a fan of The Beatles ever since the Deep Space Network has opened, 45 years ago. "'Across the Universe' is my personal Favorite Beatles song", Geldzahler said.

"Amazing! Well done, NASA! Send my love to the aliens," said former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney. Also the widow of John Lennon, Yoko Ono, said that the transmission of the 'Across the Universe' song represents a significant event, and believes that such transmissions will eventually initiate an interstellar communication network across the Universe.