NASA to beam Beatles song to North Star

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Beatles are about to become radio stars in a whole new way.

NASA on Monday will broadcast the Beatles' song "Across the Universe" across the galaxy to Polaris, the North Star.

This first-ever beaming of a radio song by the space agency directly into deep space is nostalgia-driven. It celebrates the 40th anniversary of the song, the 45th anniversary of NASA's Deep Space Network, which communicates with its distant probes, and the 50th anniversary of NASA.

"Send my love to the aliens," Paul McCartney told NASA through a Beatles historian. "All the best, Paul."

The song, written by McCartney and John Lennon, may have a ticket to ride and will be flying at the speed of light. But it will take 431 years along a long and winding road to reach its final destination. That's because Polaris is 2.5 quadrillion miles away.

NASA loaded an MP3 of the song, just under four minutes in its original version, and will transmit it digitally at 7 p.m. EST Monday from its giant antenna in Madrid, Spain. But if you wanted to hear it on Polaris, you would need an antenna and a receiver to convert it back to music, the same way people receive satellite television.

The idea came from Martin Lewis, a Los Angeles-based Beatles historian, who then got permission from McCartney, Yoko Ono and the two companies that own the rights to Beatles' music. One of those companies, Apple, was happy to approve the idea because is "always looking for new markets," Lewis said.

Perhaps coincidentally, the song's launching comes a day before the release of the DVD of the Julie Taymor movie named after the Beatles hit

NASA to beam Beatles song to North Star - CNN.com

Not a bad selection,what about alien's copying that broadcast and then uploading it to their friends?..

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins

LMAO... hmmm.. I wonder if that little boy in the orphanage, or the little homeless girl on the street just wondering where her next meal will come from, cares about this.

This is a waste of money........IMO...

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins

My sentiments exactly!
Thought I was going to be the only party pooper on this one.
Total waste.

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I would agree if this were some Stones' or Elvis song...but NOT the Beatles...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

I'm sort of neutral on this one,the equipment and antenna already exist so I doubt the "expense" will amount to a hiil of beans....

HOWEVER...this project could have been easily funded by private donation, that way, the people decide if the venture has any real value ...

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins

This project of NASA is not a waste of time. This is another leap of humanity in sending messages across the universe. The Beatles song is a good choice.

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“Man is an animal that makes bargains: no other animal does this - no dog exchanges bones with another.”

man, this project is part of our technology in changing the world. Humanity is dreaming of dreaming to understand the universe. This is step one.

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To be a poet or nothing.