NASA Beams Lennon's 'Across The Universe' Toward North Star

[Wilms]

NASA To Beam Beatles' 'Across The Universe' Into Space

ScienceDaily (Feb. 4, 2008) — For the first time ever, NASA will beam a song -- The Beatles' "Across the Universe" -- directly into deep space at 7 p.m. EST on Feb. 4.

The transmission over NASA's Deep Space Network will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the day The Beatles recorded the song, as well as the 50th anniversary of NASA's founding and the group's beginnings. Two other anniversaries also are being honored: The launch 50 years ago this week of Explorer 1, the first U.S. satellite, and the founding 45 years ago 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, which is located 431 light years away from Earth. The song will travel across the universe at a speed of 186,000 miles per second. Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney expressed excitement that the tune, which was principally written by fellow Beatle John Lennon, was being beamed into the cosmos.

snip

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080204125042.htm


Recording on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj-4t9drUlM

And a related story:
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi dies
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3170258&mesg_id=3170258

[Algorem]

1. next week they're shooting "Space Trucking" at Uranus.

[Wilms]

3. For you, the Fiona Apple version.

Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gLWTtlMwo4

[drm604]

13. I'd prefer that they beam it at my ears

rather than my... oh never mind... :D

[TechBear_Seattle]

2. And in 862 years, something will respond....

(Cue Also sprach Zarathustra)

[Orsino]

10. Alien: "OMG I hope those guys are still together!"

"How did you Earthlings honor the genius who wrote and sang this song?"

NASA: "Um...we had the FBI investigate him, and then gunned him down on the street."

Alien: "Oh. Uh...do you have Alpha Centauri's number?"

[phantom power]

4. I once had an idea for an SF short story, a bit like this.

In my idea, it was going to be about somebody who runs a radio station, beaming it out into deep space. Maybe it wouldn't even be "SF" because the story wasn't going to be about whether anybody answered back. It was going to be about a need to share our music, even in the face of not knowing who we might be sharing it with, or if anybody would ever hear it. A sort of message in a bottle theme.

I could never figure out what the plot would be. It was more of a mental image. Maybe TechBear can write it, if he feels like it.

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. Heh, I have enough on my plate right now with regards to writing

I can see it as a short story, though. How about....

An elderly man. He has grown feeble and can't get around much because of arthritis and the oxygen tank he relies on. He used to be active, an avid hiker and gardener with a lively social life. Many of his friends have already left on the last great adventure, and those that remain are like him. He still lives in the small post-WW II box house where's lived for more than fifty years and raised three children; his stubborn sense of independence will not allow him to move into a nursing home. He keeps in touch with old friends by telephone and his neighbors -- a single mom and her two kids -- drop by every day, helps keep his yard tidy and take him grocery shopping when he needs. (He suspects his own children are paying her, but they never let on and he is too proud to ask.)

During WW-II, he was an electrical engineer of some note. He helped develop several key computer circuits and part of the design for radar; after the war, he worked several decades finding civilian uses for this technology. His name on several patents and some careful investing have given him enough retirement income to keep his independence. So to pass the time, he has built a radio transmitter in the workshop out back.

Now, the FCC frowns strongly on unlicensed radio stations, so he instead broadcasts into space. His high powered, highly focused transmissions -- using phased light rather than radio waves; he doesn't want to bring the Feds down on his head -- are aimed at Polaris, the North Star; unlike his friends, Polaris will continue to be there long after his dust has turned to dust. He finds that sense of permanence comforting.

The "shows," as he thinks of them them, are an ecclectic mix of music, social commentary and the personal thoughts of an old man whose once vast world has been reduced to a small home, a small workshop and a tired, worn-out body.

He ends one show with a big band number, then thanks his listeners for their polite attention. He says it doesn't matter whether or not anyone is listening; the thought that someone, somewhere, at some future time might hear him fills his heart with joy. He signs off, then goes in to the living room lays down on the couch for a nap. In his dreams, his late wife comes for a visit as she often does. As usual, she asks him to join her. This time, he accepts.

And half the galaxy weeps when they realize, centuries latter, that this was his last show.

Edited for grammer.

[Nihil]

6. Excellent!

That would be a great short for a magazine or collection.
:toast:

[phantom power]

7. There. You wrote it!

:toast:

[TechBear_Seattle]

8. Nope, that is just a synopsis

If I did animation, this is nothing more than a bare-bones storyboard. It took me maybe half an hour to write; something for publication would take a bit more effort and run at least ten times as long.

The story is staying with me, though, so I'll work on it and see what comes out. The trick is going to be giving it a happy-ish ending without sounding maudlin. The working title is, of course, "Across the Universe."

[phantom power]

9. Well, if you publish, post a blurb in the SF forum!

OK, I'll quit hijacking the science forum now.
:evilgrin:

[Phoonzang]

11. Why didn't they beam it at a star where

there could actually be intelligent civilization? Or several stars? Also, why didn't they beam something useful? I guess it wouldn't have been a cute publicity stunt that way. God forbid someone take the idea of extraterrestrial life as something besides a fucking joke. Chances are, the signal's never going to be intercepted and will just disperse and be lost forever in the background noise of the universe.

Man....I think I got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

[Wilms]

12. I really don't think this was about communicating with a hypothetical civilization.

I think it was about us...or at least for us.

And in the end...